Volleyball Ready for American Conference Championship

TAMPA, Fla. – UNT volleyball meets Wichita State in the quarterfinals of the American Conference Championship on Friday at 12:30 p.m. CT on ESPN+ from The Corral.

The No. 4 seed Mean Green (21-8, 11-5) open postseason play against the No. 5 ranked Shockers (18-10, 10-6) after collecting its first 20-win season since 2017. The league's preseason coaches' poll predicted that UNT would finish outside the top eight teams and head coach Dave Fleming described this as key motivation for the team.

"We keep going back to when we were picked second to last and here we are in fourth place," Fleming said. "The captains (Alexa Washington and Paige Mooney) are really fired up with the direction of the program, and they helped set the standard that we should be in postseason play every year."

FIRST ROUND PREVIEW

Friday's match will be broadcast on ESPN+ with Sean Salisbury (PxP) and Ainsley Clifford (analyst) on the call
The Mean Green (21-8, 11-5) finished the regular season in fourth place in the American after being selected to finish tied for 11th in the preseason coaches' poll
UNT collected its first 20-win season since 2017 and improved its win total by 11 games from last season
The +11 year-over-year win margin ties for the fifth-best mark in Division I this season and ties for the second-largest jump in program history as the 1987 team improved by 12 wins (4-26 in 1986, 16-20 in 1987)
The Mean Green have qualified for 16-consecutive conference tournaments, dating back to the 2009 Sun Belt Conference Championship (the American Conference did not hold a tournament in 2023)
In total, UNT has made 35 conference championship tournaments with its lone title at the 1995 Southland Conference Championship over hosts and No. 1 seed Stephen F. Austin
The Mean Green own a 21-37 record with a 10-12 mark in the quarterfinals
UNT claimed a 3-2 (25-23, 25-20, 14-25, 23-25, 16-14) road win over Wichita State on Oct. 26
Senior Alexa Washington collected 21 assists and 12 digs before leaving the match in the fourth set with an ankle injury
The only set Washington missed this season was the fifth frame at WSU
Freshman setter Sidney Soria stepped up to run a 5-1 offense in the final set and finished with a career-high 32 assists and added eight digs
Opposite hitter Lilly Croshaw posted a .302 hitting percentage with a team-high 17 kills on 43 attacks against the Shockers

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Players Mentioned

Lilly Croshaw

Paige Mooney

Sidney Soria

Alexa Washington

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