WICHITA, Kan. – the University of North Texas volleyball team battled back from a important deficit in the fifth set to defeat Wichita State 3-2 (25-23,25-20,14-25,23-25,16-14) on Sunday afternoon at Charles Koch Arena.The victory extends UNT‘s winning streak to six matches and marks the 17th win of the season for the Mean Green.
North Texas (17-5, 7-3) dominated the first two sets, but Wichita state (13-8, 5-4) responded to force a decisive fifth. Down 5-0 in the final frame, UNT rallied, scoring seven of the next eight points to seize the lead and ultimately secure the win. This marks the 15th season in program history where the team has reached 17 victories.
“we feel really good coming away with a victory today,” head coach Dave Fleming said. “As a group, we keep talking about winning as a team and even though it took us a little while to respond in the fifth set, we did respond and got the win.”
Redshirt sophomore Jahniya Jackson and freshman Sidney Soria where instrumental in the fifth-set comeback, with Jackson recording five kills on six attacks and Soria delivering 10 assists on 21 attempts.
A late-match shift in offensive strategy saw Fleming move to a 5-1 scheme, entrusting Soria with the sole setter role after star setter alexa Washington, who finished with her 12th double-double of the season (21 assists, 12 digs), left the game in the fourth set.
“I’ve told [Sidney] in the past, ‘You’ve been here before and you’ve done this. You’re an all-state volleyball player that ran a 5-1, you can do this,'” Fleming explained. “Basically, the message was that we believe in her and she responded.”
Soria finished the match with a career-high 32 assists, along with eight digs, two kills, and one ace. Opposite hitter Lilly croshaw led the team in kills with 17 on 43 attacks, posting a .302 hitting percentage and adding four blocks.
“We love playing in games like this,” Croshaw said. “The more tough games are fun and our team does a great job playing together as one.”
North Texas returns to the UNT Volleyball Centre on Wednesday at 6 p.m. to face Abilene Christian (9-14) in a non-conference match broadcast on ESPN+. Tickets are available at http://northtex.as/VBtix25.
