Ken Murczek laid out a series of aggressive goals for his first season as North Texas head volleyball coach.
The Mean Green reached most of them in a season that came to an end last week with a loss to Middle Tennessee in the Sun Belt Conference tournament.
UNT tied for the Sun Belt West Division title and knocked off Arkansas State in the first round of the conference tournament before falling to the Blue Raiders, who went on to win the tournament title.
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Ken Murczek laid out a series of aggressive goals for his first season as North Texas head volleyball coach.
The Mean Green reached most of them in a season that came to an end last week with a loss to Middle Tennessee in the Sun Belt Conference tournament.
UNT tied for the Sun Belt West Division title and knocked off Arkansas State in the first round of the conference tournament before falling to the Blue Raiders, who went on to win the tournament title.
UNT finished 20-13, marking just the fifth time in school history the Mean Green has won 20 games in a season.
"As far as our goals, we wanted to win the West and did that, Murczek said. "We wanted to go to the tournament and win. We did that as well.
While Murczek had several concrete goals, he also wanted to change the atmosphere surrounding a program that had struggled since 2006.
"When I took the job, we were trying to establish a gym culture, Murczek said. "We have made strides. Its moving in the right direction.
That change was evident in the Sun Belt tournament. UNT swept ASU before falling in four sets to MTSU. The Blue Raiders went on to beat Western Kentucky in the finals.
Senior Amy Huddleston posted 26 kills in the tournament and became the first UNT player since 2006 to make the All-Sun Belt tournament team. Brittney Gregory and Corina Marginas are the only two other players in UNT history to make the team, a milestone they reached in 2006 and 2003, respectively.
Huddleston finished her career ranked third in school history with 1,332 kills.
"Amy was our lead offensive player throughout the season, and that will be hard to replace, Murczek said.
UNT will look to an incoming recruiting class of four players who were named to the Under Armour Girls High School All-America Volleyball Watch List to fill the void.
UNT signed Eboni Godfrey, a 5-7 outside hitter from Round Rock Stony Point; Hallie McDonald, a 6-2 middle blocker from Klein Oak; Analisse Shannon, a 5-11 outside hitter from San Antonio Johnson; and Liz Powell, 5-8, setter from Kansas City Bishop Miege.
"The goal is always to upgrade talent and recruit over what you have, Murczek said. "That is what we are going to try to do. Thats how you get better. It will be exciting because the four kids we have signed can be impact players, but with freshmen, you never know what you are going to get.
Football
DeLoach would like to keep coaching
Defensive coordinator Gary DeLoach said Tuesday that he is open to returning to UNT under a new head coach and plans to look for another job as an assistant coach if he is not retained.
DeLoach is in his eighth overall season at UNT and his third since returning to the school after a five-year stint at UCLA.
"I dont know if I can find a job, DeLoach said. "I am going to look around. I still have passion for the game. At my age its tough. Its a young mans game, and I realize that. You look around the country and there are not a lot of 57-year-old assistants.
Mens basketball
White named Sun Belt Player of the Week
UNT senior guard Josh White was named the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week on Tuesday for his performance last week in a pair of games against Big 12 teams.
White scored 32 points in the Mean Greens overtime win over Texas Tech at the Super Pit and also scored 10 points in a loss to Kansas on the road.
White sent UNTs game against Tech into overtime with a runner in the lane and then hit two key 3-pointers at the beginning of overtime to help lead the Mean Green to a 92-83 victory.
White has received the conference honor three times in his career. Swimming UNT signs seven to letters of intent
UNT signed six swimmers and a diver to national letters of intent last week.
UNT signed mid-distance freestyle specialist McKenzie Calkins from Converse Judson, backstroke specialist Mona Groteguth from Germany, milti-event specialist Jarmila Gupta from San Antonio, distance specialist Jessica Rodriguez from Stafford, multi-event specialist Krista Rossum from Canada, multi-event specialist Chloe Tong from Katy Seven Lakes and diver Catherine Johnson from England.
BRETT VITO can be reached at 940-566-6870. His e-mail address is bvito@dentonrc.com