Monday, March 1
DENTON
1 PM
University of North Texas
-57,24 CUSA
2
vs
3
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UTEP
-54,42 CUSA
1
2
3
4
5
F
UTEP
16
25
26
25
15
3
North Texas
25
15
28
21
13
2
Photo by: Manny Flores
UNT drops hard fought match to UTEP
3/1/2021 4:42:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
DENTON – The North Texas volleyball team fell to UTEP 2-3 (25-16, 15-25, 28-26, 21-25, 13-15) on Monday afternoon in the second match of a back-to-back with its Conference USA rivals.
The loss for North Texas (5-7, 2-4 C-USA) came just 24 hours after defeating the Miners (5-4, 4-2 C-USA) in a five-set thriller. Overall, the Mean Green dropped to 3-2 in five-set matches in 2020-21.
"It was another hard-fought match between two teams," head coach Andrew Palileo said. "We had chances there at the end to win the match, but we just didn't get it done today."
North Texas outside hitter Rhett Robinson led the Mean Green with 24 kills on a career-high 66 attacks. Robinson added another three blocks and five digs. The Krum, Texas native tallied 49 kills and eight blocks in the two matches against UTEP this week.
Sophomore middle blocker Alysha Johnson caught fire early and notched a season-high eight blocks to go along with five kills. Freshman Kenzie Smith set several career-highs with eight kills, five blocks and a .316 hitting percentage.
Kaliegh Skopal finished with 46 assists and 10 digs, while Barbara Martin added her fourth double-double of the year with 11 kills and 16 digs.
The Mean Green dominated the first set 25-16 thanks to two huge blocks from Johnson and three kills from freshman Smith.
After losing the second set, North Texas rallied behind six kills and two blocks from Robinson to edge the Miners 28-26 in another pivotal third set for the Mean Green.
Later in the match during the fifth and final set, North Texas quickly went down 1-6. However, the Mean Green rallied with an 8-3 run to tie the match at 9-9 before another kill by Robinson gave UNT a 12-10 advantage. The Miners responded with four straight points before the game ended on a service error by the Mean Green.
Up Next: North Texas will host Oklahoma on Thursday, March 4 at 5 p.m.
The loss for North Texas (5-7, 2-4 C-USA) came just 24 hours after defeating the Miners (5-4, 4-2 C-USA) in a five-set thriller. Overall, the Mean Green dropped to 3-2 in five-set matches in 2020-21.
"It was another hard-fought match between two teams," head coach Andrew Palileo said. "We had chances there at the end to win the match, but we just didn't get it done today."
North Texas outside hitter Rhett Robinson led the Mean Green with 24 kills on a career-high 66 attacks. Robinson added another three blocks and five digs. The Krum, Texas native tallied 49 kills and eight blocks in the two matches against UTEP this week.
Sophomore middle blocker Alysha Johnson caught fire early and notched a season-high eight blocks to go along with five kills. Freshman Kenzie Smith set several career-highs with eight kills, five blocks and a .316 hitting percentage.
Kaliegh Skopal finished with 46 assists and 10 digs, while Barbara Martin added her fourth double-double of the year with 11 kills and 16 digs.
The Mean Green dominated the first set 25-16 thanks to two huge blocks from Johnson and three kills from freshman Smith.
After losing the second set, North Texas rallied behind six kills and two blocks from Robinson to edge the Miners 28-26 in another pivotal third set for the Mean Green.
Later in the match during the fifth and final set, North Texas quickly went down 1-6. However, the Mean Green rallied with an 8-3 run to tie the match at 9-9 before another kill by Robinson gave UNT a 12-10 advantage. The Miners responded with four straight points before the game ended on a service error by the Mean Green.
Up Next: North Texas will host Oklahoma on Thursday, March 4 at 5 p.m.
Team Stats
UTEP
UNT
Kills
73
54
Errors
25
17
Attempts
171
146
Hitting %
.281
.253
Points
88
68
Assists
64
51
Aces
9
3
Blocks
6
11
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
24
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Kills
11
Aces
2
Blocks
0
Kills
8
Aces
0
Blocks
5
Kills
5
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Players Mentioned
MB
/ Women's Volleyball
OH
/ Women's Volleyball
MB/OH
/ Women's Volleyball
S
/ Women's VolleyballOH
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