LAFAYETTE, La. (9/26/03) -- Corina Marginas smashed a career-tying 38 kills to lead the North Texas volleyball team (11-8, 2-0) to a 3-2 (24-30, 27-30, 30-15, 30-28, 15-8) comeback victory over Louisiana-Lafayette (4-11, 0-2) Sunday afternoon in a Sun Belt Conference match.
The Mean Green improved to 2-0 in conference play for the second consecutive year and evened its record in road matches to 3-3 this season. North Texas is now 2-0 in five-game matches this year and its 11-8 overall record is its best through 19 matches since 1995.
Despite hitting .444 in the first game and .208 in the second, NT found itself down 2-0 heading into the break. However, North Texas responded with three straight victories inwhich it hit at least .354. The Mean Green finished with a .385 attack percentage, while the Ragin’ Cajuns hit just .196. UL Lafayette failed to hit over .042 in two of the matches last three games.
Marginas led three North Texas players in double-figure kills and finished with a match-high 16 digs, giving her 13 double-doubles on the season. The senior outside hitter’s 38 kills not only ties her career high, but also ties the school record and ties the third most in Sun Belt Conference history. Marginas had 78 kills for the entire week, giving her 1,907 for her career and moving her past South Alabama’s Keturah Carter (1987-90) into third place on the Sun Belt’s all-time kill list.
North Texas finished the match with a season-high 81 kills, the ninth most in North Texas history for a single match. The Mean Green’s .385 hitting percentage is also the ninth most in school history.
Brittney Gregory followed Marginas with 20 kills, while Kristin Sheppard recorded her second triple-double of the season with 10 kills, a season-high 63 assists and 15 digs. Gregory went over 20 kills for the second time this season and also finished with three blocks and a career-tying eight digs. Marginas, Gregory and Sheppard all hit at least .444 for the entire match.
North Texas stays on the road for an Oct. 1 match against SMU at 7 p.m. before returning home to host New Mexico State on Oct. 3 and Denver on Oct. 5. The Mean Green’s match against the NMSU is set for 7 p.m. and its match against Denver is scheduled for 1 p.m.
