The Mean Green are now 3-3 in five-set matches this season after Sunday’s loss to Rice on the road in Houston.
Courtesy/UNT file photoHOUSTON — Despite a career-high 29 kills from Rhett Robinson and 60 team kills, the North Texas volleyball team fell at Rice on Sunday 2-3 (25-22, 24-26, 20-25, 26-24, 9-15).
North Texas, who entered Sunday as an underdog to the C-USA West Division leader in Rice (10-3, 9-0), was only several plays away from pulling off a gigantic road win against the Owls. The Mean Green are now 3-3 in five-set matches this season.
Robinson led all players with 29 kills, a new career-high for the junior from nearby Krum. She also hit an efficient .323 and finished with five blocks for the fourth time in the last five matches.
Senior setter Kaliegh Skopal tied a career-high 55 assists and added seven digs. Redshirt junior Henrianna Ibarra started at libero for North Texas and had her best performance of the spring with a season-high 27 digs.
Outside hitter Valerie Valerian, one of the most decorated Mean Green volleyball players, returned to the squad from an internship and hit the court for the first time since fall 2020. In her first match of the spring, Valerian tallied nine kills and 14 digs while rarely stepping off the court for UNT.
“We played hard today as a team,” head coach Andrew Palileo said. “Rhett carried us with an impressive display of shots. Val [Valerian] was great. She said she was good to go, so we played her the whole match, which tells us how important she is to our program.”
Miranda Youmans continued her recent tear with 10 kills and a .471 attack percentage against the Owls on Sunday.
Palileo had North Texas ready to play, as the Mean Green came out firing against a talented Rice squad. UNT jumped out to a 9-3 lead in the first set en route to a 25-22 victory in the opening set. Robinson and Valerian both had five kills and were hitting an impressive .500, while Youmans had five kills on five attacks.
Although the Mean Green dropped a hard-fought second set 24-26, Robinson continued to sizzle from the outside. The junior outside hitter was hitting .493 through two sets with 14 kills.
After Rice won the third set, North Texas battled back to win the fourth set 26-24. In that fourth set, North Texas relied on eight kills from Robinson as they took a four-point lead late in the match. With the Mean Green at set point and leading 24-21, Rice rallied back with three-straight points to tie the fourth set at 24 apiece. However, a Rice attack error and a Barbara Martin kill capped off a 26-24 fourth set victory. The Owls won the decisive fifth set for their ninth win in a row.
Next, the Mean Green and Owls will play the second match of their back-to-back at 1 p.m. on Monday.
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