Volleyball team wants winning October record

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Kyle Youmans / Staff Writer

October has never been a good month for the North Texas volleyball team. Over the past three seasons, the Mean Green has a 10-16 October record.

This season, the Mean Green was off to its greatest start in program history and was on the path to be a contender for the Conference USA title. Before October, the team had an overall record of 10-5, but hit a three-game losing streak in the middle of October that hurt it.

“I don’t think that you can pinpoint it to one specific thing,” sophomore setter Amy Henard said. “It really is an accumulation of certain things, and people usually say that if you can make it through October with some good wins then you’ll be good to go.”

During its four October losses this season, the team only won four sets and two of those losses were on the road.

“Unfortunately, we have yet to perform at our best this month,” Henard said.

Senior outside hitter Hannah Forst spikes the ball over the net at two Florida Atlantic University defenders.

Part of the reason for this month’s trouble was trying to integrate nine freshmen into the team in the middle of conference play.

“I think we can contribute some of the losses to the competitors and the way they come into a game,” senior defender Eboni Godfrey said. “They come out with confidence, and I think that we come out competitive, but it drops off. With all the young players, we have to learn how to not have highs and lows, but stay consistent.”

The team also acknowledges there was emotional stress surrounding an off-court tragedy, the death of senior setter Camille Cherry’s mother, at the start of the month.

“We had some tough, testing times the past month,” Palileo said. “It has tested us emotionally, but the girls have really come out stronger after going through it.”

Lately, however, the Mean Green has found its stride again. The team is currently on a three-game winning streak with one more October game left. North Texas has won its last three matches in dominating fashion. The defense has finally started to emerge as an impact for the Mean Green and the all-around effort of Godfrey is a big reason behind it.

“I think that we need to continue coming together,” Godfrey said. “We need to realize that we are all in this as a team and if a girl is going to fly around the court for a ball, then I need to be right behind her to help her out.”

The Mean Green has one more road stretch of the regular season before the C-USA tournament. However, in order to finally have a winning October record, the team must beat Middle Tennessee State University at home on Friday.

“I’m really excited for the girls,” Palileo said. “We have had a good few weeks of practice and we always talk about how good practice, will reward us in the matches, and I feel like we did a good job of that this past week and hope that we can continue that going forward.”

Featured Image: The Mean Green volleyball team gathers courtside during a time out while playing Florida Atlantic University. The team beat FAU by a score of 3-1. Photos by Byron Thompson – Senior Staff Photographer

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