WACO (9/8/01) -- The North Texas Mean Green volleyball team suffered through a disappointing Saturday at the Baylor Classic, losing consecutive matches to Cal Poly and Rhode Island to finish the two-day tournament with a 1-3 record.
A week after winning a championship at the Sam Houston State tournament, the Mean Green fell below .500 for the season at 4-5. Rhode Island handed the Mean Green its latest defeat Saturday evening although North Texas forced the match to five games before falling 30-24, 28-30, 26-30, 30-22 and 11-15.
Earlier in the day, North Texas pushed national power Cal Poly to four games before losing that match.
Against Rhode Island for the second straight match, the Mean Green struggled with its hitting percentage. North Texas hit .157 against Rhode Island with Kristin Sheppard the only North Texas player to finish above .300 for the match. She had eight kills in 22 attacks.
Sophomore outside hitter Corina Marginas recorded her third double double of the tournament, getting 23 kills and 19 digs. The only other North Texas player to reach double figures in kills was sophomore middle blocker Jessica Shockley with 10.
In Saturday’s earlier match against Cal Poly, the Mean Green battled to a 30-26 victory in the opening game but let the match get away when Cal Poly reeled off three straight wins, 30-18, 30-25 and 30-11.
Marginas led the Mean Green with a double double, recording 20 kills and 16 digs. Fowler put up a .306 hitting percentage and also notched a double double with 17 kills and 11 digs. As a team, however, the Mean Green managed a hitting percentage of just .128 comparted to the .325 registered by Cal Poly.
Cal Poly, which received votes in last week’s national Top 25 rankings, had four players with hitting percentages .400 or better, including Errin Benesh at .500 with 11 kills in 20 attacks.
North Texas travels to Dallas on Tuesday to play SMU in a non-conference match at 7:00 p.m.
