SMU Volleyball Defeats Cincinnati
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CINCINNATI, Ohio (SMU) – Morgan Heise recorded a career-high 24 digs and Cailin Bula was one of three Mustangs in double figures, scoring a match-high 13 kills to lead SMU to a 3-1 (25-17, 25-16, 23-25, 25-14) win at Cincinnati Friday. Abbey Bybel finished with 10 kills and seven digs, and Maddie Lozano had 10 kills, five blocks and four digs.
After the Bearcats won the third set, the Mustangs won the fourth 25-14 to win the match, improving to 17-8 overall and 9-3 in the American Athletic Conference. SMU scored 10 of the first 15 points, and led by as many as 12, taking a 24-12 lead after an 8-2 run. Offensively, the Mustangs posted their highest attack percentage of the match, hitting .419 with 16 kills.
Avery Acker recorded 44 assists, needing 42 to become the sixth player in program history with 1,000 assists in a season. The sophomore also had eight digs and six kills. Heise had seven assists, and Bula posted nine digs, just one away from her first double-double of the season.
Cincinnati held on to take the third set 25-23, preventing the Mustangs from getting their 11th sweep of the season. The Bearcats took an 18-12 lead with an 8-2 run. Trailing 24-19, the Mustangs scored four straight to get to within one, 24-23, but Cincinnati called timeout and scored a kill on the next point to
win the set. SMU had 19 digs and four blocks in the set, but hit just .068 with 12 kills and nine errors in 44 attempts.
SMU broke the first set open with a 14-4 run to take a 22-12 lead. Cincinnati scored three straight, and fought off two set points before Bybel blasted a kill to give SMU a 25-17 win and a 1-0 lead in the match. SMU hit .387 with 16 kills, and Heise had eight digs, matching Cincinnati’s team total for the set.
In the second set, Bula kept the hot hand, matching her first set total with four kills, and the Mustangs took a 2-0 lead with a 25-16 win. It was another big run by SMU that created a big lead in a close set. Leading 12-11, the Mustangs scored eight of the next 10 points to take a 20-13 lead. Cincinnati scored just three more points before the end of the set.
The Mustangs hit .268 for the match and held Cincinnati to a .159 attack percentage. Each team had 11 blocks, with SMU freshman Janelle Giordano posting a match-high six with nine kills. The Mustangs had 64 digs to Cincinnati’s 53, and out-scored the Bearcats 57-45 off the attack.
SMU concludes the road trip at Louisville Sunday at 1 p.m. CT. The Mustangs play their final home matches of the regular season next weekend, hosting Temple Friday at 7 p.m. SMU will honor its senior during a prematch ceremony before taking on Memphis Sunday at 1 p.m.
