The North Texas volleyball team hosted day one of the North Texas Invite and went 1-1 on the evening, losing 3-1 against Illinois State and defeating Pepperdine 3-2.
The starters for their first match of the season were junior outside hitter Barbara Teakell, junior setter Kaleigh Skopal, sophomore middle blocker Sarah Haeussler, sophomore outside hitter Rhett Robinson, junior outside hitter Valerie Valerian and freshman middle blocker Alysha Johnson.
The Mean Green took the first set against Illinois State 25-16 but fell in the next three sets 25-20, 25-18 and 25-11.
Heading into the Pepperdine match, head coach Andrew Palileo switched up the lineup, with freshman defender Jordan Burks and freshman libero Aleeyah Galdeira entering the lineup. North Texas took the first set 25-20 and the second set 25-22. In the third, Pepperdine earned their first win in the third set, winning 25-15. For the fourth set, the Waves won 25-16.
In the final set of the evening, the Mean Green came out on top 15-9.
“We played well in three of the sets,” Palileo said. “I give Pepperdine credit for some of the things they did and adjusted to in sets three and four.”
North Texas concludes the North Texas Invite on Saturday with a match against the Tulsa Hurricane at 12:30 p.m.
“I just like the way our culture was on the court tonight,” Palileo said. “We talked about before the game and how we want to represent the university and how we want to represent the name on our jersey.”
Featured Image: Junior outside hitter Barbara Teakell blocks against a Waves player at the game against Pepperdine on Aug. 8, 2019. Image by Jordan Collard