NACOGDOCHES, Texas — UT Arlington defeated North Texas 3-1 on Thursday, the first night of the Texas Challenge at Shelton Gym. The Mavericks hit .266 with 51 kills and limited the Mean Green to a .076 hitting percentage.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Mavericks scored the first three points of the opening set, getting kills from
Sophia Krichev and
Camryn McMinn before a Mean Green attack error made it 3-0. After the Mean Green got on the board, the Mavericks stretched the advantage to 9-1 with six straight points, including kills by McMinn,
Hana Aiana and
Lucy Tricco during
Sophia Krichev's service turn. UNT put together brief answers in the middle of the set, but the Mavericks kept the margin at least nine points from 19-10 on, with McMinn,
Mazi Smith and Krichev adding late kills. Tricco finished the set with a kill from Krichev as the Mavericks took the opener 25-13.
UTA faced a 6-4 deficit after three early kills from Jahniya Jackson and a Jocelyn Jourdan kill for the Mean Green, but
Camryn McMinn's kill from
Lily Hopkins got the sideout, and Tricco served an ace before two more McMinn kills put the Mavericks ahead 8-6. McMinn later added another kill for 9-7, and the Mavericks stretched the lead to 12-8 on consecutive block points by
Sophia Krichev and Smith. North Texas pulled within 17-15 on a block by Addison Achilles and Madeline Smith, but Smith answered with a kill, and after the margin reached 19-17, Krichev's kill and her block with
Evyn Snook made it 21-17. After Jackson's kill made it 21-18, a Mean Green service error, a Snook ace, a McMinn kill and a block by Tricco and Krichev gave the Mavericks the final four points and the set, 25-18.
UTA scored the first two points of the third set, but UNT answered with six straight behind Dakota Mitchell's serve to move in front 6-2. The Mean Green later built the margin to 11-4 and led 16-13 before the Mavericks put together a five-point push, with
Camryn McMinn recording two kills and combining with
Hana Aiana on a block before Aiana and Smith teamed for another block and an 18-16 lead. UNT tied the set at 18-18, and after the Mavericks moved back ahead 19-18 on a service error, the Mean Green scored five straight points, including two service aces by Jahniya Jackson, to go up 23-19. The Mavericks cut the margin to 23-21 on kills by Smith and
Sophia Krichev, but the Mean Green took the final two points to win the set 25-21.
UNT built an 11-3 lead in the fourth set, scoring five straight points on Addison Achilles' serve with kills from Jocelyn Jourdan, Madeline Smith and Jahniya Jackson. The Mavericks worked back from 14-8 with five straight points, getting a
Sophia Krichev kill and three Mean Green attack errors during
Evyn Snook's serve, and tied it at 15-15 on
Camryn McMinn's kill after a Tricco kill. The teams traded points from there, with the Mavericks moving ahead 19-17 on a bad set and a
Hana Aiana block before Alessandra Romo's consecutive aces pushed the Mean Green in front 22-21. After the Mean Green reached set point at 24-23, McMinn tied the set with a kill, a Smith attack error gave the Mavericks set point, and Snook finished the 26-24 set win with a kill from Tricco.
Game Notes
UP NEXT
UTA will continue tournament play at the Texas Challenge by taking on Texas State on Friday, Sept. 11 at 3 p.m. CT.
--#BuckEm--
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