SMU Volleyball Beats Houston

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DALLAS (SMU) – Maddie Lozano and Courtney Manning each had 10 kills to lead the Mustangs to a thrilling 3-1 win over Houston (25-22, 27-29, 25-20, 25-22) in Moody Coliseum Friday night. Lozano had six blocks, and Manning finished with four to take her career total to 365 and now just needs 13 blocks to climb to second all-time in C-USA history.

The Mustangs finished the match with determination in the fourth set, scrambling to keep rallies going and winning the momentum swinging points. Houston (8-17, 7-8 Conference USA) built a 5-2 lead early in the set, but SMU (10-17, 7-8 C-USA) scored the next three to tie the score. SMU had a pair of its own three-point leads erased, but the third three-point lead, 24-21, held up to give the Mustangs the match with a 25-22 win. The Mustangs scored four of the last five points for the win after Houston erased a 20-17 SMU lead to tie the score 21-21. Lozano had four of her 10 kills in the final set.

SMU put itself in position to end the match in the fourth with a 25-20 win in the third. Houston had just outlasted the Mustangs for a 29-27 victory in the second set, but the Mustangs didn’t let the Cougars take control of the match. The set was close in the early stages, but SMU broke an 11-11 tie with a 5-1 run for a 16-12 lead. Houston never got within three points the rest of the way, and the Mustangs stretched the lead to as many as eight points with a 5-0 run to push the score to 22-14.

Caroline Young scored nine kills for the Mustangs and had four aces, and Abbey Bybel and Savannah Myklebust each added eight kills. Susan Lewis had a match-high 21 digs, and Olivia Bailey posted 42 assists in the win.

The Mustangs conclude the Conference USA season against Rice in Moody Coliseum on Sunday at 1 p.m. SMU will honor its seniors, Manning, Lewis, Bailey and Kendrick Koch in a ceremony before the match.