SMU Volleyball Beats UConn
{fshare id=5768}
DALLAS (SMU) – The Mustangs posted a season-high 19.0 blocks in a four-set win against Connecticut (25-16, 24-26, 25-15, 25-12) in Moody Coliseum Friday night. Sophomore Janelle Giordano accounted for 13 blocks, third most by a Mustang in a match all-time. With the win, SMU improved to 23-6 overall, 12-5 in the American Athletic Conference, while Connecticut fell to 10-18, 3-14 in The American.
The Mustangs cruised to a 25-12 win in the fourth set, posting seven blocks to end the match with the victory. SMU scored five of the first six points, and stretched the lead to nine, 16-7. Senior Carla Armstrong scored the final two points of the match, teaming with Kristen Stehling for a block before hitting a kill off the hands of a Connecticut defender for the kill on match point.
Caroline Young scored a match-high 15 kills, and Cailin Bula added 11. Abbey Bybel recorded 10 kills with 15 digs for her 12th double-double of the season. Avery Acker posted her 24th double-double with 45 assists and 20 digs, and Morgan Heise finished with 29 digs. Stehling added eight kills and six blocks, and Giordano scored five kills.
SMU took a 2-1 lead in the match with a 25-15 win in the third set, scoring five of the last six points to close out the set. The Mustangs started the second straight set with a 10-5 lead, but this time held on to the advantage. SMU stretched the lead to seven, 14-7, but the Huskies fought back to within four, 16-12. That was as close as the
Mustangs let them get, ending the threat with the final run. Young had five kills, hitting .714 in the set with zero errors in seven attack attempts.
The Mustangs went on a 10-2 run to take a 20-12 lead in the first set, en route to a 25-16 victory. The Huskies kept it close, matching the Mustangs 10-10 through the first 20 serves, but SMU scored seven kills without any errors down the stretch to take the win. Young scored five kills to lead the offense, and Heise had six digs to help hold Connecticut to a .057 attack percentage.
Connecticut outlasted the Mustangs in the second set to even the match 1-1 with a 26-24 win. SMU led 21-19, but the Huskies scored the next three to take a 22-21 lead. Young blasted a kill on Connecticut’s first attempt at set point, but the Huskies scored kills on the next two points to end the set. SMU went on a 10-5 run to start the set , but Connecticut used a 7-1 run of its own to take a 14-13 led, setting the scene for the late dramatics at the end of the set.
SMU hosts Temple Sunday at 1 p.m. The Mustangs will honor their seniors in a ceremony following the match. Tulsa will take on the Mustangs in the final home match of the regular season Wednesday at 2 p.m. in Moody Coliseum.
