Manny Flores

Stephen F. Austin SFA 12-2

North Texas UNT 4-10

Set Scores
Team	1	2	3	4	5	F
Stephen F. Austin SFA	20	25	25	20	15	(3)
North Texas UNT	25	21	22	25	12	(2)

Cal Poly CP 10-1

North Texas UNT 4-11

Set Scores
Team	1	2	3	F
Cal Poly CP	25	25	25	(3)
North Texas UNT	22	20	21	(0)

Game Recap: Women's Volleyball | 9/15/2018 9:37:00 PM

Volleyball Concludes North Texas Challenge

DENTON - A pair of exciting, competitive matches didn't go in favor of Mean Green volleyball in the team's final two matches of the North Texas Challenge on Saturday.

Match One
Despite a career-high 24 kills from freshman Rhett Robinson, the Mean Green fell to Stephen F. Austin 3-2 (25-20, 21-25, 22-25, 25-20, 12-15) in a thrilling five-set contest.

"It was really exciting," Robinson said. "They're a really good team and we battled with them. To be a big part of it was really fun."

Robinson, whose 24 kills are the most by a Mean Green player since 2015, was errorless in the first set with five kills on seven swings. North Texas (4-10) finished the set with 15 kills on 30 swings and didn't commit a single attack error.

"In that game, I was doing a lot better at reading shots and reading the block," Robinson said. "Sometimes I get caught not doing that and just swinging away. I really stay disciplined and worked on finding the open spot on the court."

"I feel like our defense allowed us to spread the offense and get people in the best situations," senior setter Karley York said.

York, who finished with a season-high 56 assists in the match, was named to the North Texas Challenge all-tournament team.

In the final set, Robinson had two early kills to vault the Mean Green to a 4-3 advantage, but the Ladyjacks responded with a 5-1 run to give SFA (12-2) an 8-5 lead as the teams swapped sides. Freshman Sarah Haeussler, who tallied seven kills in the final two sets, registered a pair of points in a four-point run to take the lead.

"She did a good job of giving us an offensive threat from the right side," Palileo said. "She didn't make any errors and, for the few times she practiced in that position, she came in and gave us a spark."

Back-to-back aces allowed the Ladyjacks to regain the lead at 13-9 and, after a 3-0 North Texas run closed the gap to one, SFA was able to get the last two points necessary to seal the win.

The Mean Green were out-blocked 12-6 in the match and 6-1 in the final two sets, including four Ladyjack stops in the fourth set.

"They did a good job of picking where they thought we were going to go with the set, so we give them a little credit," Palileo said. "We just have to have our hitters do a better job of working the ball around the block."

Trailing 14-13 in the opening set, the Mean Green went on a 5-1 run, led by a block and a kill each by Valerie Valerian and Jordyn Williams. Valerian and Williams joined Robinson in double-digits with 12 and 11 kills, respectively.

With the North Texas lead cut to one at 18-17, Robinson recorded a pair of kills down the stretch to help North Texas close the set on a 7-3 run. She helped the Mean Green manufacture another late run in set four with three kills to fuel an 8-2 streak to force the decisive fifth set.

"It felt good that I was able to take over in those moments and that my team backed me up," Robinson said. "Having them have my back was great."

Match Two
Facing off against No. 14 Cal Poly, North Texas held their own, competing late into each set but ultimately falling 3-0 (22-25, 20-25, 21-25) to the Mustangs in the night cap.

Neither team led by more than two until the final point of the opening frame, when a fourth-straight North Texas (4-11) attack error allowed Cal Poly (10-1) to take the set, 25-22. The eighth of the frame's nine lead changes occurred when the Mean Green went on a three-point run, led by two Robinson kills to go ahead 22-21, before UNT's mishaps caused the final lead change.

"We just haven't been able to execute both offensively and defensively out of the timeouts," Palileo said. "We just have to shore some of that up so we can win some of those sets instead of just competing in them."

After opening the second set with a 6-0 run, the Mustangs eventually pushed the lead to 13-5, forcing the Mean Green to call their final timeout. Freshman Yasmin de Lara added four kills off the bench, including two in a 7-2 run to trim the deficit to 21-17, but Cal Poly held off a late comeback effort by UNT to take a 2-0 lead in the match.

Jordyn Williams matched her season high with five blocks, including a pair in a 5-0 run to give the Mean Green a 17-16 lead. Cal Poly's Torrey Van Winden, who earned tournament MVP honors after averaging nearly six kills per set, ousted another UNT comeback effort with three-straight kills to seal the match.

UP NEXT
North Texas begins Conference USA play against Louisiana Tech at 7 p.m. Sept. 21 in Ruston, La.

QUICK HITTERS
- Karley York has been named to the all-tournament team at all but one of the team's non-conference tournaments over the past two seasons.
- Valerian added 10 digs against the Ladyjacks for her third double-double of the season
- Olivia Petnicki tied her career-high with three aces in the first match.

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