Thursday, April 1
HATTIESBURG, MS
12 PM
University of North Texas
vs
[1E] Western Kentucky
Photo by: Manny Flores
C-USA Quarterfinal: MGVB vs. No. 19 WKU
3/31/2021 9:08:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
HATTIESBURG, MS – The North Texas volleyball team will face off with the unbeaten Western Kentucky Hilltoppers on Thursday, April 1 at 12 p.m. in the quarterfinal round of the 2020 Conference USA Volleyball Championships. This year's tournament is hosted by Southern Miss.
About the Mean Green: The Mean Green (11-10, 6-6 C-USA) capped off their wild regular season winning five of the last six matches, including four-straight C-USA matches.
UNT, who has never missed a C-USA Tournament in its eight years as a member of the league, is looking to advance to the C-USA semifinals for the first time since 2018. The winner of North Texas and Western Kentucky will play the victor of [2W] UTEP and [3E] Marshall on Friday at 12 p.m.
Rhett Robinson led Conference USA and ranked No. 9 in the nation during the regular season with 337 kills. The right side hitter from Krum, Texas will be a focal point of the North Texas offense throughout the entirety of the tournament.
"Honestly, we're just excited to play such a quality team," Robinson said. "We've been talking about it all week. We're starting to come together at the right time, and we have everybody back. It's time for us to just go out there and compete."
Kaliegh Skopal has steadied the ship at the setter position for North Texas, as the senior setter finished second in Conference USA with 749 assists. With 51 assists on Thursday, Skopal could reach the 800 mark for the second season in a row.
On the defensive side, Henrianna Ibarra leads the team with 585 digs and Sarah Haeussler has 79.0 blocks. Haeussler, who came up with several clutch blocks last time the Mean Green were in Hattiesburg, will be a key player to stop WKU's Lauren Matthews, who led all of C-USA with a .433 attack percentage.
Scouting the Hilltoppers: Western Kentucky (18-0, 12-0 C-USA) is ranked No. 19, according to the latest AVCA National Poll. The Hilltoppers are undefeated and have only lost two sets all season – one to West Virginia and one to Marshall.
WKU has a history of success in the C-USA Tournament. The Hilltoppers have won five of the last six C-USA Championships.
Milestones to watch: Rhett Robinson needs 19 kills against WKU to reach 1,000 career kills in just her third collegiate season…Sarah Haeussler's .337 attack percentage is currently slated to finish as the fifth-highest single-season hitting percentage in team history (min. 200 attacks).
Series history: Western Kentucky leads the all-time series 21-3, including a 3-0 record against the Mean Green in the Conference USA Tournament. The two teams last met in Denton during the 2019 season, with WKU taking a 3-1 win over UNT.
Where to Watch: All matches of the C-USA Volleyball Championships can be streamed on ESPN+.
About the Mean Green: The Mean Green (11-10, 6-6 C-USA) capped off their wild regular season winning five of the last six matches, including four-straight C-USA matches.
UNT, who has never missed a C-USA Tournament in its eight years as a member of the league, is looking to advance to the C-USA semifinals for the first time since 2018. The winner of North Texas and Western Kentucky will play the victor of [2W] UTEP and [3E] Marshall on Friday at 12 p.m.
Rhett Robinson led Conference USA and ranked No. 9 in the nation during the regular season with 337 kills. The right side hitter from Krum, Texas will be a focal point of the North Texas offense throughout the entirety of the tournament.
"Honestly, we're just excited to play such a quality team," Robinson said. "We've been talking about it all week. We're starting to come together at the right time, and we have everybody back. It's time for us to just go out there and compete."
Kaliegh Skopal has steadied the ship at the setter position for North Texas, as the senior setter finished second in Conference USA with 749 assists. With 51 assists on Thursday, Skopal could reach the 800 mark for the second season in a row.
On the defensive side, Henrianna Ibarra leads the team with 585 digs and Sarah Haeussler has 79.0 blocks. Haeussler, who came up with several clutch blocks last time the Mean Green were in Hattiesburg, will be a key player to stop WKU's Lauren Matthews, who led all of C-USA with a .433 attack percentage.
Scouting the Hilltoppers: Western Kentucky (18-0, 12-0 C-USA) is ranked No. 19, according to the latest AVCA National Poll. The Hilltoppers are undefeated and have only lost two sets all season – one to West Virginia and one to Marshall.
WKU has a history of success in the C-USA Tournament. The Hilltoppers have won five of the last six C-USA Championships.
Milestones to watch: Rhett Robinson needs 19 kills against WKU to reach 1,000 career kills in just her third collegiate season…Sarah Haeussler's .337 attack percentage is currently slated to finish as the fifth-highest single-season hitting percentage in team history (min. 200 attacks).
Series history: Western Kentucky leads the all-time series 21-3, including a 3-0 record against the Mean Green in the Conference USA Tournament. The two teams last met in Denton during the 2019 season, with WKU taking a 3-1 win over UNT.
Where to Watch: All matches of the C-USA Volleyball Championships can be streamed on ESPN+.
Players Mentioned
MB
/ Women's Volleyball
DS/L
/ Women's Volleyball
MB/OH
/ Women's Volleyball
S
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