DENTON (9/10/05) -- Several players stepped up for the North Texas volleyball team (2-8) on the final day of the Mean Green Classic to help lift the Mean Green to two shutout victories over Prairie View A&M (2-6) and Centenary (4-6) at the Snake Pit on Saturday.
The Mean Green rebounded from a 3-0 setback against Wyoming on Friday to finish the tournament with a 2-1 record and snap an eight-match skid in the process. Four different NT players recorded double-figure kills and six had five or more kills in at least one of the two matches on the day to help the Mean Green post its top two single-match hitting percentages of the season.
North Texas hit .257 against the Lady Panthers and came back to record a season-high .295 attack percentage against Centenary as it dominated both matches, winning four of the six games by a double-digit margin.
Katy Prokof led the Mean Green offensively against the Lady Panthers with 12 kills and was joined in double figures by Tara Hooser and Erica Wendell with 10 and 11 kills, respectively. Wendell came back against Centenary to post 11 more kills, while Rachel Raley added 10. Wendell hit a career-high .714 against Prairie View A&M and .474 against Centenary as she finished the Mean Green Classic with highest hitting percentage among all players at .420.
Heidi Johnson gave the Mean Green consistent play at the setter position all three matches, actually leading all players at the tournament in assists with 10.6 per game. Jessica Hulsebosch paced NT’s defensive attack with a combined 25 digs on Saturday and has now tallied double-figure digs in every match this season.
NT’s Brooke Engel was named to the all-tournament team after averaging 4.3 kills per game and posting a .385 hitting percentage.
North Texas led all teams at the tournament in kills (15.6 kpg), assists (14.3 apg) and digs (17.7 dpg). Wyoming captured the 15th Mean Green Classic championship with a 3-0 record, while Centenary went 1-2 and Prairie View A&M 0-3.
Wyoming’s Tasha Weishman was named the Mean Green Classic MVP, while her teammate Andrea Seele, Centenary’s Ashlee Freeman and Prairie View A&M’s Crystal Stigler joined Engel on the all-tournament team.
NT improved to 2-2 in home matches, but must now get set for a six-match road swing that starts with a match at Wichita State on Sept. 13 at 7 p.m.
