Thursday, March 25
San Marcos, TX
6 PM
University of North Texas
at
Texas State
Photo by: Manny Flores
Volleyball caps off regular season at Texas State
3/25/2021 8:44:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
SAN MARCOS, TX – The North Texas volleyball team will wrap up the 2020-21 regular season on Thursday when they travel to Texas State for a 6 p.m. nonconference tilt with the Bobcats.
The Mean Green (11-9, 6-6 C-USA) have rattled off five straight wins to earn themselves a spot in the Conference USA Tournament, which will be hosted in Hattiesburg, Mississippi from April 1-3. Matchups and the C-USA Tournament bracket will be released on Saturday.
North Texas and Texas State (28-8, 15-1 Sun Belt) have already played each other once this season. On Feb. 22, when Texas State was receiving votes in the national poll, UNT swept the Bobcats in three sets at the North Texas Volleyball Center.
Thursday night's match will showcase an offensive showdown against two of the top hitters in the nation. Texas State outside hitter Janell Fitzgerald leads the country with 437 kills, while the Mean Green's Rhett Robinson ranks sixth in NCAA with 322 kills. Robinson can actually move into 10th in program history in career kills (980) with 14 kills against Texas State.
"This match will be fun for both teams," head coach Andrew Palileo said. "We know they are going to come out and play well, considering we beat them at our place earlier this season. It will be fun to watch two of the best hitters in our region go back-and-forth."
Robinson has also upped her performance on the defensive end. She recorded 10 blocks in the two wins at Southern Miss, including a season-high seven in Monday's win.
The return of Valerie Valerian is one of the reasons for the Mean Green's success. Although she does not lead the Mean Green in kills or digs, Valerian's veteran presence on the team has given North Texas a much-needed boost. The Mean Green are 5-2 since she returned to the team earlier this month.
One other pivotal part of the Mean Green's recent win streak is redshirt junior Henrianna Ibarra. The UNT libero racked up C-USA Defensive Player of the Week honors after averaging a staggering 6.70 digs-per-set in the wins over Southern Miss and Texas Tech.
The Mean Green have not won six matches in a row since 2018, when North Texas won its final seven regular season contests.
Tonight's match can be streamed on ESPN+ (https://es.pn/31iMDkE), with Brant Freeman and Mick Haley on the call.
The Mean Green (11-9, 6-6 C-USA) have rattled off five straight wins to earn themselves a spot in the Conference USA Tournament, which will be hosted in Hattiesburg, Mississippi from April 1-3. Matchups and the C-USA Tournament bracket will be released on Saturday.
North Texas and Texas State (28-8, 15-1 Sun Belt) have already played each other once this season. On Feb. 22, when Texas State was receiving votes in the national poll, UNT swept the Bobcats in three sets at the North Texas Volleyball Center.
Thursday night's match will showcase an offensive showdown against two of the top hitters in the nation. Texas State outside hitter Janell Fitzgerald leads the country with 437 kills, while the Mean Green's Rhett Robinson ranks sixth in NCAA with 322 kills. Robinson can actually move into 10th in program history in career kills (980) with 14 kills against Texas State.
"This match will be fun for both teams," head coach Andrew Palileo said. "We know they are going to come out and play well, considering we beat them at our place earlier this season. It will be fun to watch two of the best hitters in our region go back-and-forth."
Robinson has also upped her performance on the defensive end. She recorded 10 blocks in the two wins at Southern Miss, including a season-high seven in Monday's win.
The return of Valerie Valerian is one of the reasons for the Mean Green's success. Although she does not lead the Mean Green in kills or digs, Valerian's veteran presence on the team has given North Texas a much-needed boost. The Mean Green are 5-2 since she returned to the team earlier this month.
One other pivotal part of the Mean Green's recent win streak is redshirt junior Henrianna Ibarra. The UNT libero racked up C-USA Defensive Player of the Week honors after averaging a staggering 6.70 digs-per-set in the wins over Southern Miss and Texas Tech.
The Mean Green have not won six matches in a row since 2018, when North Texas won its final seven regular season contests.
Tonight's match can be streamed on ESPN+ (https://es.pn/31iMDkE), with Brant Freeman and Mick Haley on the call.
Players Mentioned
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/ Women's Volleyball
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