BOWLING GREEN, Kent. (11/21/03) -- No. 3 North Texas (22-14) suffered a 3-1 (22-30, 22-30, 33-31, 23-30) setback to No. 2 Western Kentucky (28-6) in the semifinals of the Sun Belt Conference Volleyball Tournament on Friday.
The Mean Green had two player post double-figure kills and two more finish with nine, but hit .190 in comparison to the Hilltoppers .331. NT posted a team-high .269 attack percentage in its game-three victory, while WKU hit at least .256 in all four games and over .400 in the first two.
The Hilltoppers attempted just one more attack than the Mean Green, but finished with 21 more kills and 10 more digs. WKU advances to the championship match tomorrow against No. 1 New Mexico State.
North Texas was led by seniors Corina Marginas and Jill Ruskowski with 17 and 12 kills, respectively. Junior Anne Pope and sophomore Brittney Gregory each finished with nine kills. Ruskowski also had a team-high 15 digs to finish with her second double-double of the tournament. Senior setter Kristin Sheppard tallied a team-high 39 assists and 14 digs, collecting her second double-double of the tournament as well. Gregory played well at the net, rejecting six Western Kentucky attacks.
The Hilltoppers had three players post at least 14 kills, including Jessie Wagner with a match-high 25. Caron Blotch ran WKU’s offense efficiently, handing out a match-high 60 assists.
If regionally-ranked North Texas doesn’t receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, it will end the year with the program’s third most victories ever at 22 and its first 20-win season since 1995. The Mean Green set the school record for kills, digs and assists in 2003. Marginas broke the single-season school record for kills, Ruskowski for digs and Sheppard for assists this season.
