Huntsville, Tex. (9/1/01) - The North Texas Mean Green volleyball team claimed the Sam Houston State Tournament Championship as it rolled to victories over Sam Houston State and Louisiana-Lafayette in the tournament’s final day of action.
The Mean Green’s Corina Marginas (Brasov, Romania) and Brieanne Fowler (Odessa, Tex.) were both named to the all-tournament team as both players recorded double-figure kills in all four of NT’s matches. North Texas finished the tournament with three wins and just one loss. The Mean Green defeated Oklahoma but fell to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in Friday’s action.
North Texas began the day with a 3-2 win over Sam Houston State (30-27, 26-30, 30-25, 37-39, 15-10) and followed the victory with a three-game sweep of Sun Belt Conference foe UL Lafayette (30-27, 30-18, 30-25). Louisiana-Lafayette was picked to finish third in the West Division of the conference while North Texas was picked to finish fifth. The Ragin’ Cajuns received 48 points and one first-place vote in the preseason poll.
Fowler, a sophomore outside hitter, led the attack on Sam Houston State with a career-high 25 kills and eight digs. Marginas and Kristin Sheppard (Texarkana, Tex.) both posted double-doubles in the match. Marginas had 19 kills and 24 digs, while Sheppard had 52 assists and 14 digs.
"This was a good team effort and we took some steps forward compared to last night," said North Texas head coach Cassie Headrick. "I thought we played alot sharper and everyone contributed. Our outside hitters had a good match and Anne Pope played strong in the middle."
The Mean Green got an early look into conference with the win over UL Lafayette. Marginas led the charge against the Ragin’ Cajuns with 17 kills and Fowler tallied 12. Jessica Shockley (Saginaw, Tex.) led North Texas at the net with three blocks.
"We covered some ground this weekend," said Headrick. "We still have alot of work to do, but this is a good way to start the year. I think this win will boost our confidence going into conference play."
The Mean Green will host Weber State on Monday in its home season opener. The match will be played at the Snake Pit and is set to get under way at 7 p.m.
