Volleyball unable to handle No. 12 Baylor
North Texas fans sold out the stadium for volleyball’s match against the nationally ranked No. 12 Baylor University. However, the Mean Green fell in straight sets.
“Any time you play the top teams in the country, they can expose some of the weaknesses that you have,” head coach Andrew Palileo said.
North Texas was able to keep up with Baylor in the first and third sets, but the Baylor attack proved to be too powerful overall. The Bears took the first set by a score of 25-19.
Hitting efficiency plagued UNT throughout the whole match, as they hit .152 in the match. However, their struggles were on display the most during the second set. They hit at a .061 rate with 5 errors on just 7 kills, en route to a 10-25 loss.
The third set played out like the first one, with North Texas keeping up, but falling short in the end. Baylor took the set by a score of 25-20 and won the match 3-0.
Palileo brought attention to the team’s need for consistency, as they went from keeping up with the Bears to losing the second set in dominant fashion.
“Throughout the season, we have moments where we can rally with some of the best teams,” Palileo said. “There’s just too many moments where we aren’t playing consistently and being tough every play.”
Freshman outside hitter Andrea Owens thought playing Baylor was a learning experience moving forward.
“It’s great seeing competition like that,” Owens said. “I think it’s just going to make us better against other teams.”
North Texas is set to take on division opponent Southern Mississippi on Friday and Saturday. While it was a difficult loss, they hope to learn from their mistakes and put this one behind them.
“It’s a quick turnaround, so we don’t have a lot of time to dwell on it,” Palileo said. “We’ll go back and look at film tonight and then turn the page for tomorrow.”
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