DRC..Volleyball..turnaround

[OldTimer]

Timely turnaround

UNT rebounds into title chase

11/08/2002

By Mike McClendon / For the Denton Record-Chronicle

The North Texas football team isn?t the only Mean Green squad with a chance to pull off a dramatic in-season turnaround.

Stacey Cooper/DRC

Clockwise from top, University of North Texas volleyball coach Cassie Headrick with players Brittney Gregory, Kristin Sheppard, and Corina Marginas at the Men's Gym Thursday afternoon. The team hosts Denver Friday and New Mexico State Sunday, with aspirations of clinching the Sun Belt West title.

After stumbling out of the gate this season with a record of 2-9, the Mean Green volleyball team has found its stride and improved its record to 15-13.

The Mean Green (15-13, 9-2) could claim a tie for first place in the Sun Belt West Division with a sweep of Denver (2-8, 4-17) and New Mexico State (10-1, 20-5) this weekend.

With all but one player returning from a team that advanced to the semifinals of the conference tournament, the Mean Green may have suffered from overconfidence during the early season struggles.

"I think after the summer, everyone came in real excited and thought it would be easy," said outside hitter Corina Marginas. "We thought other teams would just let themselves be beaten by us. It wasn?t what we expected. It was harder than that."

Added head coach Cassie Headrick: "We thought it would be easy. We didn?t think we were going to have to get out on the court and work hard."

Another emotion replaced the overconfidence after the rough start.

"I think there was a little bit of panic that set in," admitted Headrick.

That panic led to a turnaround that includes a 9-2 record in the Sun Belt Conference and a school-record eight-match winning streak.

"We knew that these conference games truly mattered," said junior Kristin Sheppard. "Every game this year has mattered, but we knew we had a chance to win this conference. We knew that if we didn?t get it in gear right then, it would be too late."

The school-record winning streak started with a 3-1 win over Denver on Oct. 6. The Mean Green then cruised past seven more foes before the streak ended with a 1-3 loss to New Orleans on Nov. 2.

Both Marginas and Sheppard were named Sun Belt Player of the Week during the record run.

Marginas, a junior from Brasov, Romania, received the award for the second time this season after averaging 5.67 kills and 3.5 digs per game in sweeps over New Orleans and South Alabama.

"When Corina is on, she brings the whole team up, said Sheppard. "Everyone responds and plays that much harder for the team, for her and for the fun of seeing her put the ball down as hard as she can."

Marginas, who was selected to the Romanian national team in 2000, is currently leading the Sun Belt in kills.

"With Corina, you put the ball up and you know she is going to put it down," said Headrick. "The girls look to her as a go-to player. They put a lot of pressure on her shoulders. I?d say 99 percent of the time, Corina takes that very well."

Sheppard, a setter, was honored as Sun Belt Player of the Week after posting her ninth and 10th double-doubles of the season in victories over Arkansas State and Arkansas-Little Rock.

"She?s the one who directs our offense," said Headrick of Sheppard. "She?s the quarterback of the team. We put a basic outline together and we say this is what we need to do, but she?s the one making decisions out there."

While Marginas and Sheppard provide the Mean Green with solid veteran leadership, a freshman is also making an impact on the court.

Middle blocker Brittney Gregory has emerged as a legitimate candidate for Sun Belt Freshman of the Year.

Gregory ranks ninth in the Sun Belt in attack percentage in conference play.

The freshman turned heads with 10 service aces, a Mean Green season-high, in a win over Grambling.

It?s no coincidence that the Mean Green?s season began to turn around after Gregory began to feel comfortable with the speed of the college game.

Gregory?s teammates and coaches say that her physicality separates her from other players on the Mean Green roster.

"Brittney is attitude," said Headrick. "She has a goal to hit someone in the face every game. That?s one of the big reasons she is here. We needed that little bit of lift."

The Mean Green will need a big lift to get past New Mexico State this Sunday.

The Mean Green is 0-5 against the Aggies under Headrick, including a sweep earlier this season.

"They always beat us and I think we are a little intimidated by them because of that," said Marginas. "We really want to beat them, but we will have to be really determined."

Getting past New Mexico State would help clinch one of the three goals the team set out to achieve this season.

The Mean Green has already accomplished the first goal: qualifying for the Sun Belt tournament. But claiming a West Division championship and a Sun Belt title are still on the to-do list.

The winning streak, individual awards and turnaround are things the team can be proud of, said Headrick, but without the Sun Belt title, the Mean Green will be left unfulfilled.

"Ultimately, that goal of a conference championship is what we are going for," Headrick said. "All the stuff that goes with it are just little niceties along the ride."

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