SMU Volleyball Defeats Tulsa
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DALLAS (SMU) – SMU defeated Tulsa 3-1 (25-15, 25-21, 24-26, 25-16) in Moody Coliseum Wednesday, winning at home for the program-record 15th time this season. The Mustangs are 25-6 overall, matching the win total record set in 2010, and 14-5 in the American Athletic Conference. Tulsa fell to 21-9 overall and 13-6 in The American. With a crowd of 687, SMU set a season attendance record of 8,625, averaging 539 per match.
SMU bounced back from a two-point loss in the third set, ending the match with a 25-16 win in the fourth. The Mustangs took a 10-4 lead to start the set, and Tulsa never got within five points again.
Janelle Giordano scored a match-high 12 kills, and Cailin Bula and Kristen Stehling each added 11 kills. Morgan Heise finished with 22 digs, needing 11 in the final match of the regular season to break Sidney Stewart’s season record, set with 625 digs in the 2011 season. Caroline Young scored seven kills with 13 digs, and Abbey Bybel added nine kills and 14 digs. Avery Acker finished with 44 assists and eight digs.
Tulsa out-lasted the Mustangs in the third set to win 26-24. SMU erased a six-point deficit, going on a 5-1 run to cut the lead to two, 15-13, before taking its first lead of the set, 19-18. The Mustangs were the first to 24 points, serving for
the match, but the serve went into the net. After Tulsa scored an ace to take a 25-24 lead, Bula appeared to tie the score with a kill, but was called for a net violation, giving Tulsa the victory.
SMU went on a 13-4 run to close out the first set, taking a 25-15 victory. The Mustangs scored five of the first six points, but Tulsa came back to tie the score, 6-6. The teams traded points until SMU went on the run, which started with the Mustangs leading 12-11. SMU hit .368 as a team in the set, with Giordano scoring five kills on six attempts without an error.
The Mustangs held off a late charge by the Golden Hurricane to win the second set 25-21. SMU led 21-15, but Tulsa rallied to cut the lead the four, 22-18. Tulsa scored back-to-back points, cutting the SMU lead to three, 24-21, before Stehling scored a kill to give SMU the win. The Mustangs held Tulsa to a .061 attack percentage, recording 17 digs and three blocks.
SMU concludes the regular season Friday at 2 p.m. ET/1 p.m. CT at East Carolina.
