NORTHRIDGE, Calif, - For the first time in 41 matches, the North Texas volleyball team was defeated in straight sets as CSU Northridge topped the Mean Green 3-0 (25-19, 25-20, 25-14) Friday evening at the Matadome.
The Mean Green (3-2) offense, which entered the match 10th in the nation in attack percentage at .309, hit .009 in the loss and committed 26 errors. With just 27 kills, North Texas was gifted nearly half its points on a variety of errors by the Matadors (2-2).
"We didn't play well from the start and I thought our serving was tentative, which put a lot of pressure on our blocking and defense," Mean Green head coach
Andrew Palileo said.
CSUN got out to fast starts in each set, going ahead 8-1 in set one, 10-5 in set two and 12-4 in set three to take the wind out of UNT's sails. While the Matadors committed 10 of their 21 errors in the first frame, they out-blocked the Mean Green 3-0 and kept the top hitters quiet, never allowing North Texas within three points.
"I thought we could've done a better job executing some swings, but CSUN did a good job defensively on us tonight," Palileo said.
It wasn't until the first point scored in set two by the Mean Green, the Conference USA leader in blocks per set entering the match, that Rhett Robinson recorded the team's first block. After one of Valerie Valerian's team-high seven kills tied it up at 13-13, North Texas committed four straight errors and CSUN never looked back.
A Rhett Robinson kill seemed to keep the Mean Green within striking distance, down 6-3 in the decisive third set, but the Matadors rattled off a 12-4 run. Palileo responded by pulling his preseason all-conference setter Karley York with just 12 assists, the fewest by York in a single match since the 2016 season finale.
"It was more about trying to find some different adjustments," Palileo said.
UP NEXT
North Texas looks to bounce back in game two of the ASICS Classic against Pepperdine at 7 p.m. Saturday in Malibu, Calif.
QUICK HITTERS
- Valerian snapped her streak of matches with double-digit kills at 10.
- Robinson, who has eight blocks in the last two matches, now leads the team with 15.
- Kylie Brown finished the match with a career-high seven assists.