DENTON - Led by 15 kills each from senior Jordyn Williams and sophomore Valerie Valerian, the North Texas volleyball team snapped an eight-match losing streak and defeated Mississippi State 3-2 (25-23, 25-20, 15-25, 21-25, 15-5) on Thursday night in the first match of the North Texas Challenge.

"It was amazing," Williams said.

Williams, who matched her career-high in kills, committed just two errors and finished with a .542 attack percentage. Freshman Rhett Robinson joined Williams and Valerian in double-digits with 10 kills, her third-straight 10+ kill performance.

"It felt great," Williams. "Everything that we worked on in our game plan was executed well in this game."

Junior Olivia Petnicki and freshman Kasey Bortnem led the team with three aces each, and Bortnem recorded two-straight out of a Bulldog timeout to give the Mean Green a 10-2 lead in the final set.

"This game, I just really wanted to go after it," Bortnem said. "At first, it was really stressful, but the team was telling me to calm down and I took some deep breaths. The first one was just about getting it to the right spot, and then on the second one, I could speed up a little bit and put some more effort into it."

After tallying nine of her 15 kills in the opening two sets, Williams returned to the spotlight in the final frame with a trio of points, including one that pushed the North Texas (4-8) lead to 11-3. Following Robinson's 10th kill, MSU (4-7) committed back-to-back errors to hand UNT the win.

"We just reminded each other that these moments are what we've been working on for months and months," Williams said.

Valerian registered 11 of her 15 kills in the first two sets, helping the Mean Green to fast starts in each set. UNT endured a 15-6 MSU run, giving the Bulldogs an 18-17 lead in set one, but a pair of kills and an ace for Valerian helped carry the Mean Green to the end of the set.

"After the first set, we knew this is what we had been working toward and we had the momentum to draw it up," Williams said.

In set two, Mississippi State never got within three until an ace cut the UNT lead to 23-20, but a Robinson kill and a Karley York ace took care of business. York compiled 45 assists and her third double-double in the last four matches with 10 digs.

North Texas struggled offensively in sets three and four with 16 kills and as many errors for a break-even hit percentage. The Mean Green were errorless in the final set, recording six kills on 13 swings.

UP NEXT
The Mean Green continue North Texas Challenge play at 6 p.m. Friday against Wichita State.

QUICK HITTERS
- The Mean Green finished with a season-high 12 aces in the match. 
- The Mean Green have won 19 of their last 22 matches at home and are 60-19 (.759) at home under Palileo.
- Junior Olivia Petnicki tallied a career-high 18 digs in the win.
- Williams (15), Valerian (15) and Miranda Youmans (8) all finished with season-highs in kills.