University of North Texas Athletics
Friday, October 23
Denton, Texas
6 PM CT
University of North Texas
vs
Rice
10/23/2026 10:04:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
DENTON, Texas – The UNT volleyball team returns to the UNT Volleyball Center this weekend for a pair of American Conference matches against Rice and UAB.
UNT hosts Rice Friday evening at 6 p.m. CT before completing the weekend against UAB on Sunday at 1 p.m. CT. Both matches will be available for streaming on ESPN+.
Weekend Overview
- Rice leads the all-time series against North Texas 23-9 and has won the last three meetings. The Owls most recently defeated the Mean Green in four sets on Nov. 16, 2025, in Denton.
- Rice enters Friday's matchup with a 12-8 overall record and a 6-2 mark in conference play. The Owls have won five consecutive matches, including road victories over Tulsa and Wichita State last weekend.
- North Texas leads the all-time series against UAB 12-5. The Mean Green won the most recent meeting in four sets (25-22, 25-18, 22-25, 25-20) on Sept. 28, 2025, at the UNT Volleyball Center.
- UAB enters the weekend with an 8-12 overall record and a 2-6 conference mark. The Blazers are coming off a three-set victory over Temple and will face UTSA on Friday before traveling to Denton.
- The Mean Green enter the weekend with a 10-9 overall record and a 3-5 mark in American Conference play after splitting a pair of matches against UTSA and Tulsa last week.
- Dave Fleming is in his second season at the helm of the Mean Green program, compiling a 31-18 record during that time. In his debut season, UNT won 21 matches for the first time since 2017 and finished fourth in the American.
- Outside hitter Jahniya Jackson continues to lead the North Texas attack with a team-high 238 kills through 19 matches, averaging 3.17 kills per set. Lillian Croshaw ranks second with 181 kills and 2.48 kills per set.
- Middle blocker Addison Achilles tops the Mean Green with 68.0 total blocks, averaging 0.96 per set. Loredana Fouonji ranks second on the team with 53.0 blocks of her own.
- Sophomore Alessandra Romo has anchored the UNT defense all season long, leading the team in both digs (236) and service aces (21). Her 236 digs are third most in the American.
- UNT continues to receive significant contributions from its setter tandem of Sidney Soria and Olivia Branum. Soria leads North Texas with 433 assists, while Branum has recorded 301 assists this season.
- North Texas split its two American Conference matches last week, falling in three sets at UTSA on Wednesday before defeating Tulsa in four sets Sunday afternoon.
- The Mean Green defeated Tulsa 3-1 (25-23, 25-20, 19-25, 25-21) in front of 580 fans, marking the fourth sellout of the season at the UNT Volleyball Center.
- Reagan Bedell led North Texas with a season-high 18 kills and added 10 digs for her first double-double of the season. She finished with a .364 hitting percentage and two service aces.
- In her return after missing three matches, Loredana Fouonji recorded 11 kills on an errorless .611 hitting percentage and eight total blocks against Tulsa.
- North Texas finished the Tulsa match with 61 kills on a season-best .331 hitting percentage, while holding the Golden Hurricane to 53 kills on a .250 clip.
Players Mentioned
MB
/ Women's Volleyball
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/ Women's Volleyball
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/ Women's Volleyball
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/ Women's Volleyball
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/ Women's Volleyball
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/ Women's Volleyball
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/ Women's Volleyball
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/ Women's VolleyballSaturday, November 15
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Thursday, October 09