North Texas Daily

Clay Massey | Staff Writer
@Clay_FCD

The Mean Green volleyball team lost its opening match of the North Texas Invitational 3-2 to Boise State University on Friday night.

“We won a set we shouldn’t have, and we lost a set we shouldn’t have,” said head coach Andrew Palileo.

North Texas’ 32 errors would prove killer. The Broncos came out strong in set one, scoring the first points and getting out to an 11-7 lead before a timeout by the Mean Green. The Mean Green used the momentum out of timeouts to its advantage, scoring directly out of the timeout after three out of four timeouts. The tide began to turn when Amanda Chamberlain blasted a ball in for a point to tie the score at eleven a piece.

Chamberlain would finish the set with two kills. Carnae Dillard and Chelsea Abii led the way with three kills, but it was a balanced attacking effort by the Mean Green to win set one. They finished with five players having at least two assists, Amy Henard led the way with ten. North Texas would go on to win the set 25-19.

“At those crucial moments you have to keep the ball in play and keep swinging,” said Chamberlain. “Just doing what I know how to do.”

Set two was an impressive affair from the Boise State side, as they fought back after trailing 16-10 the Broncos put together six straight points, led by a dominant showing from sophomore Sierra Nobley, who notched 12 kills through two sets. The Broncos would continue to fight despite Dillard breaking the streak of points with a block at the net, and go on to win set two 25-21.

Boise State started hot in set three getting off to a 5-0 lead before North Texas got on the board. The Broncos would not be phased, as they got out to an 8-2 lead behind the fire they brought to the third set. Errors proved to be fatal to the Mean Green, as Boise state scored seven times off of an error by a North Texas player.

The Broncos won set three 25-19 setting up a do or die set four for the Mean Green.

The Mean Green responded in set four. North Texas trailed 8-2 again, but were able to put together a run after a timeout. They equaled the score at 10-10 and took their first lead at 13-12 after Kaitlyn Oliver of Boise State committed the error.

The turning point came when the Mean Green tied at 18-18 after a ball got up into the rafters. Boise State’s libero Maddi Osburn could not handle the ball after it hit a beam, giving North Texas the point. The sophomore from Burleson, Texas, Milam, got North Texas ahead by the score of 21-20. Milam finished the set with three kills.

Dillard put the nail in the coffin of set four when she blasted a ball that was mishandled by the Boise State defense. North Texas took set four 25-22 despite their errors.

“I think it just shows how disciplined and calm we are,” said Dillard. “Knowing that our defense had it back here, we could force them into more errors.”

Boise State came out firing on all cylinders forcing North Texas to use a timeout with the score sitting at 5-9 Broncos leading. The Broncos just added to their lead, as they would pull away to win the set 15-10 on a block by Maddy O’Donnell, taking the match.

North Texas returns to action when they face Abiliene Christian University Saturday morning in both sides second match of the North Texas Invitational at 11 A.M..

Featured Image: Middle blocker Amanda Chamberlain blocks a set by Boise State. Ryan Vance | Senior Staff Photographer