SMU Volleyball Defeats Cincinnati
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DALLAS (SMU) – Abbey Bybel’s serve on match point grazed the top of the net before falling on the Cincinnati side of the court, giving SMU a 3-1 victory (25-15, 22-25, 25-22, 26-24) over the Bearcats with a 26-24 win in the fourth. Bybel matched her season-high with a team-best 16 kills, but her lone ace was the deciding point.
SMU (21-5, 10-4 The American) led 20-17 in the fourth, but Cincinnati (13-13, 5-9 The American) rallied to tie the score 21-21. The Mustangs scored the next three, but the Bearcats scored on three straight match point attempts before SMU called timeout. Bybel scored the next point out of the timeout, giving SMU its fourth attempt at match point, winning on Bybel’s ace.
Bybel led four Mustangs with at least 10 kills, with Caroline Young scoring 12, Janelle Giordano posting 11, and Cailin Bula had 10. Giordano also had a match-high seven of SMU’s 13.5 blocks, and recorded just one attack error, hitting .667. Avery Acker had a team-high 17 digs and 44 assists for her 21st double-double of the season, and Morgan Heise finished with 16 digs. Young and Julianne Scheidler also recorded 11 digs each, giving Young her seventh double-double.
SMU outlasted the Bearcats in the third set, winning 25-22 for a
2-1 advantage in the match. Neither team led by more than three the entire set, which featured nine ties and three lead changes. SMU recaptured the lead, 11-10, and never gave it up, but the Bearcats stayed right with the Mustangs. SMU broke the final tie, 22-22, with three straight points, including two of six blocks in the set, for the win.
The Mustangs cruised to a 25-15 victory in the first set, hitting .429 while holding Cincinnati to a -.030 attack percentage. SMU scored 13 kills with just one error. With a 9-6 lead, SMU went on an 11-3 run for a 20-9 lead. Cincinnati scrambled for six more points before SMU ended the set on Bybel fourth kill of the opening frame.
The Mustangs went on a 6-0 run to cut the Cincinnati lead to one, 21-20, in the second set. The Bearcats used their final timeout and scored the next three for a 24-20 lead. SMU fought of two set points, but Cincinnati evened the match with a 25-22 win. The Bearcats broke a 10-10 tie with an 8-1 lead, building an 18-11 lead before SMU began the comeback effort.
SMU returns to the road, playing at USF Friday at 7 p.m. ET/6 p.m. CT and UCF Sunday at 12:30 p.m. ET/11:30 a.m. CT.
