Ames, Iowa - The 2018 campaign came to a close on Wednesday night, as the Mean Green fell to Iowa State in four sets (25-22, 17-25, 21-25, 20-25)  to bow out of the National Invitational Volleyball Championship in the third round. 

Iowa State (19-13) dropped the first set before rattling off three straight. The Mean Green (19-17) finished the season with a hot hand, winning 11 of its final 13 matches, and dropping just nine out of its last 45 sets. Sophomore Valerie Valerian continued her strong play leading North Texas with 15 kills. She was the only player to reach double-digits for North Texas. She also added 14 digs for a double-double.

Senior setter Karley York added 35 assists. She finishes fourth all-time in assists in program history after moving into the fourth spot in the second round win over Tulsa University. 

Head coach Andrew Palileo is happy with how is team finished the year. 

"I'm proud of the way we finished out this year," Palileo said. "It's been an up and down year for us, but we finished strong. The experiences in this tournament are invaluable for our team. I'm proud of our team and how everybody stuck to it even through the injuries. We're excited for what our future looks like."

The Mean Green picked up in set one right where they left off in the first two rounds. North Texas hit with great effectiveness at .316 percent, its highest mark of the match, to take a close set. North Texas held off a late Iowa State charge to take the first set 25-22. North Texas held things close in set two as the Cyclones only led 11-10. The Cyclones then rattled off a 3-0 run to open a lead that they would never relinquish to take set two. 

The Cyclones hit over .300 to take set three, leading 15-10 at the media timeout. A late North Texas charge fell short as Iowa State won 25-21. In the penultimate set, things started slowly for North Texas. Iowa State jumped out to a 10-1 lead before a North Texas timeout. A Jordyn Williams kill out of the timeout got the Mean Green back on track. Williams finished with eight kills and two digs in her final game for North Texas. 

The two sides traded runs, as the Mean Green went on a 4-0 run to force an Iowa State timeout with the Cyclones leading 12-8. But the Cyclones went on two separate 3-0 runs down the stretch to close out the set and the match.

"I thought we came out and passed really well in the first set," Palileo said. "It was a struggle the rest of the three sets. It came down to our first touch in the rest of the match."

Wednesday marks the end of the deepest postseason run under Palileo, after advancing a round further than last season in the same tournament.