North Texas volleyball finishes road trip with victory at UAB
Mean Green volleyball junior Amanda Chamberlain spikes a ball into the opponents playing field Saturday in the North Texas Challenge. Tomas Gonzalez
North Texas volleyball defeated the University of Alabama at Birmingham on the road Friday by a final of 3-1.
The Mean Green (9-11, 3-2) came out strong in the first set, grabbing an early 4-0 lead. The Blazers (8-12, 1-4) were unable to catch up to North Texas after the lead continued to grow to 19-11. The set ended with junior right-side hitter Alexis Wright leading the women with six kills.
“The middles, Amanda [Chamberlain] and Holly [Milam], had a really good game today like they always do,” Wright said. “They were able to open up to me and Karley [York] was setting to me at the right time which made it easier for me to hit those shots.”
During the second set, the women faltered, giving up an early lead that cost them the set and a sweep.
North Texas had a chance to steal the lead back after rallying to 19-17, but eventually fell.
“We knew this game was going to come down to energy and who could feed off each other’s energy,” Wright said.
The last two sets mirrored the first with the Mean Green getting early leads and keeping them. North Texas won the third set 25-15 before going on to win the fourth by an even larger margin, 25-13.
Wright led both North Texas and UAB with 17 kills while junior outside hitter Chelsea Abii came in second with 11 kills.
“The middles [got going] again today and did well,” head coach Andrew Palileo said. “But I think the difference today was Chelsea and Alexis coming in and being able to score.”
Palileo, Wright and Abii all agreed what they have been practicing on defense has been paying off during the recent games and are ready to play in Denton next week.
“We’re looking forward to continuing this streak and being at home next week,” Abii said. “We always enjoy having home court advantage and getting energy from the fans.”
Next up: North Texas will host the University of Texas at El Paso at 7 p.m. Friday in Denton.
Featured Image: Mean Green volleyball junior Amanda Chamberlain spikes a ball into the opponents playing field Saturday in the North Texas Challenge. Tomas Gonzalez
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