North Texas Daily

Kyle Youmans / Staff Writer

The Mean Green volleyball team earned the second win of the Mean Green Classic after a win over Jackson State University in straight sets (27-25, 25-18,25-16) Saturday afternoon. During the game, head coach Andrew Palileo was able to showcase many of his inexperienced and young players. Freshmen players filled five of the six positions in the starting lineup, which Palileo said was the plan going into the tournament.

“That’s really what we are trying to do for this tournament, especially the first two matches.” Palileo said. “We are trying to get as many of our young players in the game, to see what certain players are going to do in certain situations.”

The Mean Green (8-1) was in trouble early as JSU (0-10)  was able to hang with UNT during the first set. But UNT was able to win the first thanks to a service ace by freshman outside hitter Bailey Banks that sealed the deal.

After struggling in the first set, senior setter Camille Cherry and the rest of the offense found their attacking rhythm and were then able to dominate the second set and finish the third to secure the victory in straight sets.

“I thought I did well today.” Cherry said. “I had a good time playing with the freshman and getting them involved with the game plan as much as I could and it also really helped my confidence for when we start the real season.”

One of those young players who made a big impact was freshman middle blocker Amanda Chamberlain. Chamberlain was able to record a .688 attack percentage with 11 kills in 16 attacks.

“Today really helped my confidence because I know I can only go up from here.” Chamberlain said. “I’m continuously getting better at what I’m doing and I have great coaches behind me, which is really going to help me as the season goes on.”

The team will conclude the Mean Green Classic with a match up with the Utah Valley Univerity Wolverines at 7:00 p.m.