Manny Flores

Box Score

Wichita State WSU 5-5

North Texas UNT 4-9

Set Scores
Team	1	2	3	F
Wichita State WSU	25	25	25	(3)
North Texas UNT	23	15	19	(0)

Game Recap: Women's Volleyball | 9/14/2018 8:30:00 PM

North Texas Competes Well In Loss To Shockers

DENTON - For just the fourth time in the last 23 matches, the North Texas volleyball team was defeated at home, falling 3-0 (23-25, 15-25, 19-25) to Wichita State on Friday night as part of the North Texas Challenge.

"We competed hard, but there's still some things we need to fix," sophomore Valerie Valerian said. "But I thought we competed well."

Valerian and freshman Rhett Robinson tied for the team lead with nine kills each, and Valerian added an ace and a pair of block assists. Senior Karley York paced the squad in both assists (29) and digs (seven).

The Mean Green (4-9), who averaged 1.7 blocks per set entering the match, recorded just three blocks and just one in the first two sets. UNT also averaged just a tick over 10 digs per set.

"It's tough when you're giving your opponent free swings," Palileo said. "We were also having a tough time defending behind the block. Sometimes you can get away with one or the other, but tonight we didn't do either well."

"We're definitely going to focus on communication at the net and team defense," Valerian said.

The teams traded short runs in the opening set before North Texas took a 19-15 lead with a 6-2 run led by a trio of Jordyn Williams kills. However, the Shockers (5-5) closed the set on a 10-4 scoring streak.

"I thought we played better in that first set than last night, even though we won," head coach Andrew Palileo said. "We came out with more aggressive serves and executed some of the things we talked about, but what's happened in a lot of our losses is we give away points in the last five-to-seven points. Part of that is not executing where we need the execution to happen."

After there were nine ties and four lead changes in set one, Wichita State never surrendered the lead in the second frame. The Mean Green, who committed just four errors and hit .250 in the first set, finished with nine errors and hit .071 in set two.

"Wichita State gained some confidence and put pressure on us the rest of the match," Palileo said.

The only lead change that occurred in the final set was the Shockers getting out to a 7-3 lead after North Texas recorded the opening point. The Mean Green pulled within two on four occasions, but were overpowered by Wichita State down the stretch.

UP NEXT
The Mean Green conclude North Texas Challenge action Saturday against Stephen F. Austin and Cal Poly at 11 a.m. and 7 p.m., respectively.

QUICK HITTERS
- Miranda Youmans has hit .500 or higher in three of her last four matches.
- The Mean Green fell to 1-8 all-time against Wichita State.
- For the first time since September 2016, North Texas lost back-to-back home matches.

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