Monday, March 22
Hattiesburg, MS
11 AM
University of North Texas
-119,66 CUSA
3
at
1
Southern Miss
-98,46 CUSA
1
2
3
4
F
North Texas
21
25
26
25
3
Southern Miss.
25
23
24
23
1
Volleyball rallies to defeat Southern Miss
3/22/2021 2:24:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
HATTIESBURG, MS – The North Texas volleyball team held off a late run by Southern Miss on Monday afternoon to defeat the Golden Eagles 3-1 (21-25, 25-23, 26-24, 25-23) and clinch a spot in the Conference USA Tournament from April 1-3.
The Mean Green (11-9, 6-6 C-USA) are winners of five straight, including four consecutive league wins that put UNT in the C-USA Tournament for the eighth consecutive year.
"That was ultimately our end goal," senior middle blocker Miranda Youmans said. "We knew that we had no other option but to win-out in order to get in. We did that. Missing the [C-USA] tournament was not an option for us."
After losing the opening set, North Texas rallied to win three unanswered sets behind an impressive defensive performance. The Mean Green finished with 94 team digs, including a career-high 31 digs for Henrianna Ibarra. The redshirt junior's 31 digs are the fifth-most in program history for a four-set match.
Although the Mean Green didn't record a block in the first set, the North Texas front row came alive and tallied 13 blocks in the final three frames. Rhett Robinson, who also had a game-high 18 kills, finished with a season-high seven blocks. Youmans added seven blocks of her own, while Sarah Haeussler notched four blocks.
"It was a much different match than yesterday," head coach Andrew Palileo said. "Southern Miss did a really nice job defensively and made us work, but we're excited to get two wins on the road to end league play."
Kaliegh Skopal finished with 48 assists on the day, passing Wendy Rinks for eighth in team history in career assists (1,612).
Valerie Valerian recorded her third double-double of the season with 14 kills and a season-high 21 digs. Valerian has recorded double-digit digs in six of her eight matches.
The two squads split the first two sets, and Palileo said that he knew the winner of the third set had a great chance to grab momentum. The Mean Green started off cold and quickly found themselves trailing 6-15.
In what looked to be a blowout third set, the Mean Green slowly started to chew into the Southern Miss lead. North Texas closed the gap to four points before a solo block from Robinson capped off a 5-1 UNT run that tied the set 23-23. After a Golden Eagles' point, the Mean Green scored three straight points to win a pivotal third set 26-24.
"It was great to see us fight back, especially on the road in a must-win moment like that," Palileo said. "We made a couple adjustments on the defensive side, and our girls adjusted really quickly. I'm just really proud of the way we battled in that third set."
During the fourth set, North Texas went on an 8-0 run to take a 21-13 lead. Despite a late surge from the Golden Eagles, the Mean Green closed out the fourth set 25-23 and earned a spot in the 2020-21 C-USA Championships.
Up Next: North Texas wraps up its regular season with a nonconference tilt at Texas State on Thursday, March 25 at 6 p.m.
The Mean Green (11-9, 6-6 C-USA) are winners of five straight, including four consecutive league wins that put UNT in the C-USA Tournament for the eighth consecutive year.
"That was ultimately our end goal," senior middle blocker Miranda Youmans said. "We knew that we had no other option but to win-out in order to get in. We did that. Missing the [C-USA] tournament was not an option for us."
After losing the opening set, North Texas rallied to win three unanswered sets behind an impressive defensive performance. The Mean Green finished with 94 team digs, including a career-high 31 digs for Henrianna Ibarra. The redshirt junior's 31 digs are the fifth-most in program history for a four-set match.
Although the Mean Green didn't record a block in the first set, the North Texas front row came alive and tallied 13 blocks in the final three frames. Rhett Robinson, who also had a game-high 18 kills, finished with a season-high seven blocks. Youmans added seven blocks of her own, while Sarah Haeussler notched four blocks.
"It was a much different match than yesterday," head coach Andrew Palileo said. "Southern Miss did a really nice job defensively and made us work, but we're excited to get two wins on the road to end league play."
Kaliegh Skopal finished with 48 assists on the day, passing Wendy Rinks for eighth in team history in career assists (1,612).
Valerie Valerian recorded her third double-double of the season with 14 kills and a season-high 21 digs. Valerian has recorded double-digit digs in six of her eight matches.
The two squads split the first two sets, and Palileo said that he knew the winner of the third set had a great chance to grab momentum. The Mean Green started off cold and quickly found themselves trailing 6-15.
In what looked to be a blowout third set, the Mean Green slowly started to chew into the Southern Miss lead. North Texas closed the gap to four points before a solo block from Robinson capped off a 5-1 UNT run that tied the set 23-23. After a Golden Eagles' point, the Mean Green scored three straight points to win a pivotal third set 26-24.
"It was great to see us fight back, especially on the road in a must-win moment like that," Palileo said. "We made a couple adjustments on the defensive side, and our girls adjusted really quickly. I'm just really proud of the way we battled in that third set."
During the fourth set, North Texas went on an 8-0 run to take a 21-13 lead. Despite a late surge from the Golden Eagles, the Mean Green closed out the fourth set 25-23 and earned a spot in the 2020-21 C-USA Championships.
Up Next: North Texas wraps up its regular season with a nonconference tilt at Texas State on Thursday, March 25 at 6 p.m.
Team Stats
UNT
USM
Kills
57
61
Errors
20
28
Attempts
177
199
Hitting %
.209
.166
Points
73.5
76
Assists
54
50
Aces
4
6
Blocks
12.5
9
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
18
Aces
0
Blocks
7
Kills
14
Aces
1
Blocks
2
Kills
11
Aces
0
Blocks
4
Kills
6
Aces
0
Blocks
7
Players Mentioned
MB
/ Women's Volleyball
DS/L
/ Women's Volleyball
MB/OH
/ Women's Volleyball
S
/ Women's Volleyball
OH
/ Women's Volleyball
MB
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