North Texas (2-1) volleyball went to the Cal Poly Tournament to play against #23 Cal Poly (0-3), San Jose State, and Wichita State. The Mean Green volleyball team played Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, CA on Sept. 5, 2019. The starters for the Mean Green were junior outside hitter Barbara Teakell, junior setter Kaleigh Skopal, middle blocker Sarah Haeusler, junior outside hitter Valerie Valerian, freshman defense specialist Jordan Burks, freshman middle blocker Alysha Johnson and freshman defense specialist Aleeyah Galdeira.
North Texas lost 3 sets to 0. Cal Poly won the first and second set with a score of 25-15 and 25-10. In the final set, Cal Poly won 25-9.
“Our first touch wasn’t as consistent,” head coach Andrew Palileo said. “Then we got a little shaky.”
Skopal had 17 assists and seven digs which were the most for North Texas volleyball team. Valerian led the team in kills (8) for the Mean Green. Junior middle blocker Miranda Youmans played for the first time this season and registered three block assists. This is North Texas’ second loss of the year making their current record 2-2.
“I feel if we can take care of our first touch, play it better and not end up being so predictable we will be better tomorrow,” Palileo said. “They served well but we have to be able to adapt to when things like that happen.”
North Texas (2-3) played San Jose State (2-2) on Sept. 6, 2019 in the Mustang Challenge which was played at a neutral playing ground. The Mean Green lost 3 sets to 2 sets. The first set and second sets, North Texas won by a score of 25-15 and 25-23. The third, fourth and fifth set, the Mean Green lost to San Jose State with scores of 29-27, 25-18 and 15-13. Teakell accumulated a team high 20 digs and Valerian had 21 kills against the Spartans. Skopal had 42 assists, the most in the game for the Mean Green.
North Texas (2-4) volleyball played Wichita State (3-3) in the Mustang Challenge on September 7, 2019. North Texas lost against Wichita State 3:1 in the opening set. North Texas followed that up by winning the second set 25-21. The Mean Green lost set one, and set three, set four with 25-19, 25-15, and 25-21.
“We’ll react positively because we believe in what we’re doing,” said Palileo. “We have to just match the intensity and focus of the match and we’ll be fine.”
Skopal had 48 assists as the starting middle setter. This gave her 107 assists for the entire Mustang Challenge over the weekend. Galdeira had the most digs on the team with nineteen against the Shockers. North Texas had 54 kills as a team. They had 25 attack errors compared to Wichita State’s 14 attack errors.
Next weekend, North Texas will travel to the Abilene Christian tournament to play California State at Fullerton, Abilene Christian and Prairie View A&M.
“Moving forward we need to be better at executing in big moments during a match and start a little quicker,” said Coach Palileo.
Featured Image: Freshman defense specialist Aleeyah Galdeira digs a hit during the Mean Green’s game against Tulsa on Aug. 31, 2019. Image by Isabel Anes
Article Originally Published by on North Texas Daily
Source: North Texas Daily
