University of North Texas
-01,00 CUSA
McNeese State
1-0,0-0Southland
Mean Green split two matches on opening day
8/27/2021 9:15:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
DENTON — The North Texas volleyball team finished the first day of the North Texas Invite with a 1-1 record, falling to McNeese State in five sets (25-11, 23-25, 25-20, 17-25, 12-15) before rebounding with a four set win over South Dakota State (25-22, 21-25, 25-17, 25-17).
Rhett Robinson had a combined 38 kills across the two matches along with a .357 attack percentage.
The senior from Krum, Texas also recored her 1,000th career kill in the second set of the first match, becoming the 10th player in Mean Green volleyball history to reach the 1,000 kill milestone.
"I'm excited for Rhett," head coach Andrew Palileo said. "She's been a model of consistency and she's improved every single year, so it doesn't surprise me. I think she's going to continue to get better."
Kaliegh Skopal led the way in assists with 34 in the first match and 36 in the second, but Palileo said overall that passing was an issue in the loss to McNeese State.
"Our second touch just wasn't as consistent as I'd like. We did as much as we could. We didn't come out very well, and they caught us. (In the first game) our first touch didn't even come close to what it was in the second game."
The Mean Green rebounded in the second match both offensively and defensively. Sarah Haeussler posted five blocks against South Dakota State along with four aces, while starting Libero Henrianna Ibarra racked up 11 digs. Kenzie Smith also backed up the offensive performance of Robinson with 12 kills of her own.
The Mean Green (1-1) will close out the North Texas Invite on Saturday, Aug. 28 against Grambling State. The match is slated to start at 1 p.m.
