DENTON (9/25/02) - The North Texas volleyball team (5-11) pounced on SMU (6-8) early in Wednesday’s match at the Snake Pit, but the Mustangs overcame a 1-0 deficit to defeat the Mean Green 3-1 (19-30, 30-28, 30-23, 30-19) in both teams final match before starting conference play.
North Texas hit just .162 in the first game, but held SMU to a -.081 attack percentage at the same time to run away with a 30-19 victory. However, both teams picked up their offense in the second game as each hit above .200 in a tough-fought 30-28 victory for the Mustangs.
"We came out and played well the first game, but I think they made alot of mistakes also," said North Texas head coach Cassie Headrick. "The second game they adjusted well and unfortunately I thought we had some errors that hurt us."
SMU was able to mount a double-figure lead in games three and four, eventually handing North Texas a seven-point setback the first game out of the intermission and an 11-point loss in game four.
Although North Texas gave up five more blocks at the net, it finished with seven itself and had 64 digs in comparison to SMU’s 52. The Mean Green also had five more kills than SMU, but committed eight more attack errors in just six more attempts than the Mustangs.
Corina Marginas (Jr.; OH; Brasov, Romania) led North Texas with 15 kills and 19 digs, both match highs, to attain her eighth double-double of the season. Tanya Samples (Sr.; MB; Nocona, Tex.) was the only other North Texas player to end the night with double-figure kills (13) and Andrea Hansel (Sr.; L; Houghton, Mich.) the only other Mean Green player to record double-figure digs (13). Kristin Sheppard (Jr.; Texarkana, Tex.) piled up a match-high 47 assists.
The Mean Green open Sun Belt Conference Play this Friday with a 7 p.m. match at Middle Tennessee. North Texas will then host UL-Lafayette on Sunday at 2 p.m.
