Keeping track of UNT volleyball in C-USA tournament
Ehsan Azad / Staff Writer
Editor’s note: This article will continued to be updated as UNT advances in the Conference USA tournament, which will run Thursday through Sunday.
The Mean Green volleyball team’s season ended against Marshall University in a dramatic five-set loss during the Conference USA tournament on Friday, one day after advancing past Florida Atlantic University in the first round.
FAU
UNT advanced to the quarterfinals by beating FAU in four sets on Thursday in Murfreesboro, Tenn.
In the second meeting between the two teams in less than a week, the No. 5 seeded Mean Green (17-15, 9-7) beat No. 12 seeded FAU (13-17, 4-11) in four sets (25-16, 20-25, 25-21, 25-18). Multiple players stepped up in this game with five players reaching double-digit kills. Senior middle blocker Karissa Flack led the team with 14, while senior outside hitter Courtney Windham and sophomore outside hitter Carnae Dillard each added 12.
“I spoke to the girls and essentially let them know how I felt about the past weekend, and how I feel about our team going forward,” head coach Andrew Palileo said in a press release. “I wanted them to understand that every team has ups and downs, and we have a chance to redeem ourselves on a big stage in the Conference USA tournament.”
The two teams faced off in the regular season finale last Sunday, which UNT lost in three straight sets.
Marshall
It was a dramatic but disappointing finale for UNT as it lost in five sets to Marshall Friday in the quarterfinals of the C-USA tournament.
The No. 5 seeded Mean Green played a back-and forth contest with No. 4 seeded Marshall (16-15, 9-6) that went five sets (23-25, 25-15, 20-25, 31-29, 12-15). In the fifth set, UNT fell behind early and couldn’t battle back.
Dillard registered 20 kills and 10 digs for the match. Playing in the final game of her collegiate career, Windham had a big game with 13 kills and a game-high 15 blocks.
“I couldn’t be prouder of the way our girls played in that match, and they showed incredible determination and fortitude late when they fought off all those match points,” Palileo said in a press release. “We had to play yesterday, and they didn’t. Sometimes, that extra rest can be the difference between winning by three points and losing by three points.”
Marshall, who had previously beat the Mean Green 3-1 earlier in the year, will move on to the semifinals.
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