Friday, September 30
Denton, TX
6 PM CT
University of North Texas
-810,21 CUSA
2
vs
3
No. 22 Rice
-131,30 CUSA
1
2
3
4
5
F
Rice
26
21
25
22
15
3
North Texas
24
25
17
25
7
2
Volleyball Drop Five-Set Heartbreaker to No. 22 Rice
9/30/2022 11:26:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
DENTON, Texas – UNT volleyball dropped its first home conference match of the season to No. 22 Rice in a 3-2 defeat on Friday.
The Mean Green (8-10, 2-1) pushed the Owls (13-1, 3-0) to five sets, 24-26, 25-21, 17-25, 25-22, 7-15 in front of a capacity crowd of 731. It is the largest home attendance number since hosting 850 fans on September 3, 2013 against UT Arlington.
"Our home crowd is awesome," head coach Kristee Porter said. "It's a fun environment for the team to play in and the support of the community really provides us with an extra boost."
North Texas were led in points by Aryn Johnson (20), Treyaunna Rush (18.5) and Sh'Diamond Holly (17). The trio posted 45 of the team's 63 kills with Holly providing eight total blocks and Rush with seven. Johnson tallied a double-double with 18 kills and 11 digs to go along with a solo block and an ace. Truli Levy contributed eight kills and four total blocks.
Aleeyah Galdeira led the match with 24 digs which moved her into sole possession of fifth place with 1,143 for her career, passing Valerie Valerian (2017-21) and Katy Prokof (2004-07). She also recorded a personal-best 11 assists with an ace.
UNT was able to hold its opponent to a .205 hitting percentage, the second-lowest mark of the season for Rice behind a five-set match at LSU in which it hit .171 on August 27.
Ceci Harness distributed 25 assists along with a career-high 16 assists and a kill. Freshman Alexa Washington established a season-best mark of 22 assists with six digs and a kill.
"I am proud of the way we competed tonight," Porter said. "We came out aggressive and were able to retain our aggressiveness throughout the entire match and really fought for every point."
Set 1: UNT came out of the gates with a 3-1 run with kills from Andrea Owens and Johnson with a combo block from Rush and Holly. The Mean Green would hold its lead recording either kills or blocks on 18 of its initial 20 points. A late 7-3 North Texas run would solicit a timeout from the visitors with the set at 22-19. It would prove timely as the Owls would finish the frame 26-24.
Set 2: The Mean Green were defiant opening the second with a 9-2 barrage to take an early lead. Rice would attempt to answer with a five-point run but Porter's team kept its head to rebound for an 8-3 run to give UNT a 17-10 advantage. The two sides would trade points but Rush would drop the set winner to even the match at 1-1.
Set 3: Early in the third, the two teams swapped points and were tied at 6-6. Midway through the set, UNT called a timeout and Holly exited the huddle to collect the next three points for her team with a kill and two blocks to pull the frame closer at 15-10. The Owls would pull away and take the third.
Set 4: North Texas traded blows with its nationally-ranked competition with a tie score of 10-10 midway through the set. The home side rattled off three unanswered points and forced a timeout from the Owls. The visitors would compose themselves and pull even but UNT were able to capitalize on errors for a 5-1 run and 19-15 lead. The Mean Green collected kills from Holly, Johnson and Rush but it was Owens who would finish the last ball of the fourth to take the set 25-22.
Set 5: The deciding set began optimistically for North Texas as it took a 3-2 lead but the five-round bout ended with Rice capturing the win.
"I hope that our team understands that they can compete against anyone they take the floor against," Porter said. "We are physical enough but it comes down to mentally being able to compete for an entire match."
Up Next: The Mean Green travel to meet C-USA foe UTEP at Memorial Gym on Sunday at 1 p.m. CT on CUSA.tv.
The Mean Green (8-10, 2-1) pushed the Owls (13-1, 3-0) to five sets, 24-26, 25-21, 17-25, 25-22, 7-15 in front of a capacity crowd of 731. It is the largest home attendance number since hosting 850 fans on September 3, 2013 against UT Arlington.
"Our home crowd is awesome," head coach Kristee Porter said. "It's a fun environment for the team to play in and the support of the community really provides us with an extra boost."
North Texas were led in points by Aryn Johnson (20), Treyaunna Rush (18.5) and Sh'Diamond Holly (17). The trio posted 45 of the team's 63 kills with Holly providing eight total blocks and Rush with seven. Johnson tallied a double-double with 18 kills and 11 digs to go along with a solo block and an ace. Truli Levy contributed eight kills and four total blocks.
Aleeyah Galdeira led the match with 24 digs which moved her into sole possession of fifth place with 1,143 for her career, passing Valerie Valerian (2017-21) and Katy Prokof (2004-07). She also recorded a personal-best 11 assists with an ace.
UNT was able to hold its opponent to a .205 hitting percentage, the second-lowest mark of the season for Rice behind a five-set match at LSU in which it hit .171 on August 27.
Ceci Harness distributed 25 assists along with a career-high 16 assists and a kill. Freshman Alexa Washington established a season-best mark of 22 assists with six digs and a kill.
"I am proud of the way we competed tonight," Porter said. "We came out aggressive and were able to retain our aggressiveness throughout the entire match and really fought for every point."
Set 1: UNT came out of the gates with a 3-1 run with kills from Andrea Owens and Johnson with a combo block from Rush and Holly. The Mean Green would hold its lead recording either kills or blocks on 18 of its initial 20 points. A late 7-3 North Texas run would solicit a timeout from the visitors with the set at 22-19. It would prove timely as the Owls would finish the frame 26-24.
Set 2: The Mean Green were defiant opening the second with a 9-2 barrage to take an early lead. Rice would attempt to answer with a five-point run but Porter's team kept its head to rebound for an 8-3 run to give UNT a 17-10 advantage. The two sides would trade points but Rush would drop the set winner to even the match at 1-1.
Set 3: Early in the third, the two teams swapped points and were tied at 6-6. Midway through the set, UNT called a timeout and Holly exited the huddle to collect the next three points for her team with a kill and two blocks to pull the frame closer at 15-10. The Owls would pull away and take the third.
Set 4: North Texas traded blows with its nationally-ranked competition with a tie score of 10-10 midway through the set. The home side rattled off three unanswered points and forced a timeout from the Owls. The visitors would compose themselves and pull even but UNT were able to capitalize on errors for a 5-1 run and 19-15 lead. The Mean Green collected kills from Holly, Johnson and Rush but it was Owens who would finish the last ball of the fourth to take the set 25-22.
Set 5: The deciding set began optimistically for North Texas as it took a 3-2 lead but the five-round bout ended with Rice capturing the win.
"I hope that our team understands that they can compete against anyone they take the floor against," Porter said. "We are physical enough but it comes down to mentally being able to compete for an entire match."
Up Next: The Mean Green travel to meet C-USA foe UTEP at Memorial Gym on Sunday at 1 p.m. CT on CUSA.tv.
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Team Stats
Rice
UNT
Kills
59
63
Errors
24
33
Attempts
171
178
Hitting %
.205
.169
Points
78
79
Assists
54
59
Aces
9
2
Blocks
10
14
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
18
Aces
1
Blocks
1
Kills
15
Aces
0
Blocks
7
Kills
12
Aces
0
Blocks
8
Kills
8
Aces
0
Blocks
4
Players Mentioned
L/DS
/ Women's Volleyball
S
/ Women's VolleyballM
/ Women's VolleyballOH
/ Women's VolleyballOPP
/ Women's Volleyball
OH
/ Women's VolleyballOPP
/ Women's Volleyball
S
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