North Texas Daily

By Trevon McWilliams

The North Texas volleyball team won a tough four-set match Saturday morning against the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in the last day of the Stephen F. Austin Invitational.

The Mean Green (6-8) pounced on the Trojans (4-8) in the first set, winning by the score of 25-19.

But Little Rock rallied and turned the tide in the second set, due in large part to North Texas’ mistakes.

With the match knotted up entering the third set, a sequence of long rallies from both sides began. Ultimately, the Mean Green prevailed, getting the match victory to round out the weekend. 

“We just wanted to serve aggressively and defend better,” head coach Andrew Palileo said. “The girls just wanted to come out better than what they did yesterday.”

Although there were challenging stretches in the game, the team showed resiliency to finish the job. Junior right-side hitter Alexis Wright and senior  middle blocker Emma Eakin combined for 35 kills, plays that proved to be pivotal down the stretch.

“Alexis getting those kills was big for us,” Eakin said. “When she is in the air, we know shes going to put it away.”

Despite getting the win, North Texas is still below .500 as Conference USA play draws closer. For Palileo, this means there is still plenty of room to grow.

“Our girls are still looking to improve on team communication,” Palileo said. “Our conditioning is causing us to break down too quickly and that is  something we need to get better at.”

Next up: North Texas travels to take Baylor at 7 p.m. on Tuesday in Waco. 

Featured Image: Alexis Wright, left, and Jordan Williams guard the net Sept. 9 at the North Texas Volleyball Center. Sara Carpenter