Mustangs Tie Record In 3-2 Volleyball Loss Against UCF
DALLAS (SMU) – Dana Powell posted her 20th double-double of the season with a team-high 15 kills and a match-high 18 digs, and Caroline Daly recorded a career-high 11 blocks, but it wasn’t enough to knock off UCF Sunday in a match that went five sets and took two hours and 11 minutes to determine a winner. SMU had 19.0 blocks, tying the school record for most blocks in a five-set match, the second time this season the Mustangs have blocked 19 attacks.
SMU forced a fifth set with a 25-12 win in the fourth set, but were edged out by the Knights, the second-ranked offense statistically in Conference USA, 18-16 in the fifth set. The Mustangs, second in the league in digs and blocks, had six of their 19.0 blocks in the fifth set, erasing a seven-point deficit to tie the decisive set 13-13, but SMU could never get the advantage. In the end, it was a block by the Knights that ended the match.
The Mustangs (14-17, 10-9 C-USA) opened the fourth set on a 12-6 run, and never let UCF (19-11, 11-8 C-USA) get back into the set. SMU had four blocks and eight kills in the set, but forced the Knights into 13 attack errors to set up the 13-point margin of victory to tie the match after UCF took control with a 25-20 win in the third set.
After the Knights held off the Mustangs for a four-point victory in the first set, 25-21, the Mustangs answered with a 25-18 win in the second set. SMU trailed by two points midway through the set, 11-9, but retook the lead 13-12 during a 7-1 run and never trailed again to even the match.
Jessica Oliver had 13 kills and five blocks, and Courtney Manning had 10 kills and eight blocks, increasing her season total to 178 blocks. Powell also had seven blocks in the match, and her 15 kills pushed her ahead of Oliver for the team lead with 365 on the season.
The Mustangs will face Tulsa in the final match of the regular season on Saturday in Moody Coliseum at 1 p.m. SMU gave Tulsa its only conference loss of the season, ending the Golden Hurricane’s 26-match conference win-streak with a 3-1 win on the road on Oct. 5. SMU will honor its four seniors in a ceremony before the match.
