Mean Green volleyball takes a loss against the Owls
The North Texas volleyball team lost Friday night in four sets (1-3) to the Florida Atlantic Owls.
The Mean Green began their season with three wins then fell into a slump with eight consecutive losses. Despite a 6-14 overall record, North Texas is currently 2-2 in conference and tied for fifth.
The match against Florida Atlantic was outside hitter Barbara Teakell’s first game after recovering from a foot injury. She remarked positively on the team’s performance, but noted that they needed to work on finishing out the games is greater precision.
“The hardest part about losing a match is knowing how close the team got,” Teakell said. “We’ll definitely be coming into practice tomorrow to shore up our defense and make sure that we treat each possible point as equally important.”
The Mean Green were never beat by more than four points in a set, scoring 21-25, 25-21, 23-25 and 27-29 respectively. Each set was marked by an initial two-to-three-point lead by the Owls followed by consistently tied scores until an advantage was gained by either team at the end.
Sarah Haeussler completed the match with a career record of 15 kills, while Jordan Williams set a new North Texas record of 400 career kills.
Haeussler said that she holds herself to a high standard and felt like her performance met that standard, but they needed to start playing a better defensive game to score a few more wins.
“There were some things we did well and some things we need to work on,” Haeussler said. “FAU put us in some tough positions, so we need to start playing a more aggressive defensive game. Anyone can return a hardball or get a good dig, but it’s the hits that roll off or the well-placed sets that determine who wins the game. ”
Despite tonight’s loss, Palileo said he feels like his team is ready to face their opponents head-on during Sunday’s game.
“The team didn’t play as well as I know they can, but when you’re playing a good team like Florida Atlantic who put us in difficult situations in terms of ball placement, being able to manipulate formations is something we need to work on,” Palielo said. “Our defensive game was a little robotic, so we’ll be focusing on that during tomorrow’s practice,”
The Mean Green will play Charlotte at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
Featured Image: Sophomore outside hitter Barbara Teakell sets the ball over the net in a game against Kent State. The Mean Green is on a current win streak, (3-0). Rachel Walters
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