Marshall University Athletics
Marshall University
North Texas
@HerdVolleyball Falls to North Texas Sunday, 3-1
10/11/2015 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. ââ'¬" Marshall volleyball fell on Sunday, Oct. 11 inside the Cam Henderson Center by a 3-1 (19-25, 25-17, 23-25, 19-25) decision in favor of the North Texas Mean Green.
North Texas improves to 13-8 (5-1 C-USA), while Marshall drops to 12-8 (3-4 C-USA).
The Herd was paced by junior Cassie Weaver (Huntington, W.Va.) with her 12th double-double of the season with a team high 18 kills and 22 digs. Junior middle blocker Ally Kiekover (Grand Rapids, Mich.) had 10 kills, while senior Lauren Legge (Pliny, W.Va.) had eight kills with a .400 hit percentage and a team high five total blocks. Libero Allie Kellerman (Louisville, Ky.) had 14 digs and setter Kayla Simmons (Gainesville, Fla.) had 31 assists.
In the first set, North Texas came out swinging as they opened up on a four-point run. The Mean Green ended up leading wire-to-wire to claim the first set.
The next set was different from the first, as it would have 13 tied scores and six lead changes, the most of any set on Sunday. The game went back-and-forth throughout the beginning until North Texas called a timeout when the set was tied at 16-all. Coming out of the timeout, Marshall dominated play with five straight points, including a kill by freshman Shelby Conley (Paintsville, Ky.). Marshall finished the set by taking nine out of the final 10 points.
Coming out of the break, the Herd and Mean Green would compete in their closely contested set of the day. Neither team held a larger advantage than three points in the set, which came only once at the 16-19 mark that forced a Herd timeout. From there, Marshall battled in the set to eventually tie it at 21. The teams traded blows, but North Texas took the set as it forced an attack error on Marshall.
Marshall came out swinging to being the fourth set as it took an early 8-4 lead, as it hoped to extend the match. North Texas fought back though and took a four-point run to give itself an 18-14 lead. The Herd tried to battle back, but the Mean Green's attack was too much for Marshall as it dropped the fourth set.
COACH'S CORNER
Quote from assistant coach Taylor Strickland
On today's match and the week ahead
"The girls had a big challenge ahead of them today. We played very well defensively and passed exceptionally well throughout the match until set four. Weaver and Kellerman really controlled the floor defense today and along with our middles and right side setting up the block on the outside. North Texas came to play today and fought hard for the win. We have to stay focused throughout the entire match instead of spurts. We did learn that we can grind today and we have to keep taking steps forward throughout this week to prepare for a tough weekend in Texas."
UP NEXT
The Herd will make a trip to the Lone Star State for a matchup between UTEP on Friday, Oct. 16 at 8 p.m. and UTSA on Sunday, Oct. 18 at 12:30 p.m.
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