University of North Texas
Jackson State
Volleyball goes 1-1 on first day of North Texas Challenge
9/10/2021 10:57:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
DENTON — North Texas volleyball split the first day of the North Texas Challenge, coming away with a win in straight sets over Jackson State (25-17, 25-13, 25-21) before falling to Montana State (25-15, 22-25, 25-17, 20-25, 10-15) in a five set battle.
Sarah Haeussler finished the day with 26 total kills, which included a .793 attack percentage over the course of both games. She tied her career high in kills with 18 in the loss to Montana State.
Avery McCrillis finished with a double-double in the second match, obliterating her previous career high of nine kills with 20 along with 10 digs. She put together a 29 kill effort combined over the two matches.
Head coach Andrew Palileo says he was proud of the individual performances of his players, but emphasized more needed to be done to win both matches.
"I thought Avery did a really good job tonight," Palileo said. "We're happy with the way she played. (Sarah) also had two really good matches, but middle blockers don't win games for you alone. We didn't get enough swings on the outside, and then we just broke down a little bit on our passing and on our defensive side."
Kaliegh Skopal paced the passing attack with 34 assists in the first match and 53 in the second, two short of her career high of 55.
The Mean Green close out the North Texas Challenge on Saturday afternoon against Abilene Christian, with the match scheduled to start at 1pm.
"We've got to work on all of the above," Palileo said. "A little bit of hitting and balance on the offense, as well as the defensive side being a little more disciplined."
