SAN ANTONIO – Hunter Coppola and Amanda Ifeanyi each had double-figure kills, leading UTSA volleyball to a four-set win (25-22, 14-25, 25-21, 25-22) over North Texas, on Sunday afternoon at the Convocation Center.
UTSA (3-5, 1-1 Conference USA) split the two-match series with North Texas (3-5, 1-3 C-USA) after the Mean Green posted a five set win over the Roadrunners late on Saturday night in UTSA's league opener.
The Roadrunners opened the day strong with a first-set win, before UNT rallied back to claim the second with an 11-point advantage. UTSA finished off the win with a 25-21 and 25-22 result in the third and fourth sets.
Coppola, a native of Verona, N.J., had 13 kills and five digs. Ifeayni, a freshman out of The Woodlands, had 10 kills and four blocks.
UTSA sophomore setter Courtney Walters, a native of McKinney, Texas, had 45 assists and eight digs, just missing out on her fifth double-double of the year.
Junior libero Mia Ybarra led UTSA had 19 digs and three assists. Kirby Smith chipped in eight kills and 17 digs. Alexis Pratt had 11 digs and Maddie Thayer added 12.
The Roadrunners hit .195 as a team in the win, holding UNT to .201 as a team. UTSA had five service aces in the win.
The Mean Green were highlighted by an 18-kill effort from Sarah Haeussler.
The Roadrunners will return to action on Sunday and Monday, traveling to El Paso, Texas to take on UTEP.
With the match even at 11 in the first set, UNT ripped off a 3-0 run to force a timeout from UTSA's Laura Neugebauer-Groff, the program's all-time winningest coach in her 19th season. The Roadrunners responded out the timeout, scoring seven of the next nine points, including a 3-0 run, to take an 18-16 lead and force a Mean Green timeout.
The Mean Green opened the second set with five of the first six points. The Roadrunners roared back to even the set at five, then taking a 6-5 lead. UNT responded with seven of the next nine points to build a early lead, taking the advantage to 20-11.
UTSA used a 4-0 run late in the third set to take a 17-13 lead and force a UNT timeout. The Roadrunners were the first to reach 20 and took a 21-20 lead into the final Mean Green timeout. Amanda Ifeanyi's back to back kills – giving her eight – gave UTSA set point at 24-20. An attack error led UTSA to the third-set win, 25-21.
The Mean Green opened the fourth set with a 3-2 lead before UTSA rallied to even the set at 10. Langridge's kill gave UTSA a 12-10 lead and Coppola stretched the lead to 13-11. The Mean Green then rallied back to tie the set at 16 and took an 18-16 lead. An Ifeanyi kill let UTSA even the set at 19 before taking a 20-19 lead on a UNT error. After UNT evened it at 20, UTSA took a 21-20 lead behind a kill from Coppola, her 10th. Rhett Robinson got the point back for UNT, which was immediately answered by Coppola with a fierce right-handed swing. Robinson's error gave UTSA a 23-21 lead and prompted a timeout from UNT's head coach Andrew Palileo. Back-to-back kills from Coppola allowed UTSA to finish off the set win.
- UTSA -
