SMU Volleyball Wins At UConn
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STORRS, Conn. (SMU) – Morgan Heise posted 36 digs, fourth all-time in a match at SMU, as the Mustangs won three straight sets for a 3-1 (25-27, 25-14, 25-21, 25-16) victory at Connecticut Sunday afternoon. The sophomore recorded a career-high 38 digs, which is third in a match at SMU, at Arkansas earlier this season. With the win, SMU improved to 17-5, 6-4 in The American Athletic Conference, while the Huskies fell to 9-12, 2-8 in The American.
SMU erased a 10-6 deficit in the fourth set, taking a 12-11 lead, and never trailed again to end the match. With Connecticut leading 11-8, the Mustangs out-scored the Huskies 17-5 to prevent a second straight five-set match.
Cailin Bula scored 16 kills, one shy of her season high, hitting .467 with just two errors. Caroline Young finished with 15 kills and nine digs. Middle blockers Kristen Stehling and Janelle Giordano added nine and eight kills, respectively, and Avery Acker posted her 17th double-double with 49 assists and 18 digs. Julianne Scheidler recorded 12 digs, reaching double figures for the first time this season.
The Mustangs took a 2-1 lead, holding on for a 25-21 victory in the third set. SMU took a
five-point lead early, 10-5. SMU’s 20th point of the set put the lead back to five, 20-15, and the Mustangs led by five, 23-18, before Connecticut rallied back. The Huskies scored three straight to cut the lead to two, 23-21, but SMU scored on kills from Janelle Giordano and freshman Lauren Mills for the win. Heise had 13 digs in the set, and Bula led the offense with four kills.
SMU led 23-19, but the Huskies fought back to win the first set 27-25, scoring four straight to take a 25-24 lead. Bula scored for the Mustangs to tie the score, but back-to-back kills won the set for Connecticut. The Mustangs scored four straight to take a 10-5 lead, and lead by as many as six, including a 21-15 lead, before Connecticut’s late run. Bula led the SMU offense with five kills, and Acker tallied assists on 16 of SMU’s 17 kills.
Bybel scored four aces in a row to give the Mustangs a 24-13 lead in the second set. After a kill by the Huskies, Stehling scored the final kill to give SMU a 25-14 victory and even the match, 1-1. Leading 12-10, SMU stretched the lead to five, 16-11, scoring points on two kills, a block and an error by the Huskies. The Mustangs held Connecticut to just three more points in the set. The SMU defense held Connecticut to a .091 attack percentage with just eight kills and five errors. Heise led the defense with seven digs to take her match total to 14.
The Mustangs play at Tulane Friday at 1 p.m. CT, and wrap up a stretch of four straight road matches Sunday at Houston.
