SMU Volleyball Beats Memphis
DALLAS (SMU) – SMU swept Memphis on Senior Day in the Dedman Center Sunday, improving to 19-9 overall and 11-4 in the American Athletic Conference with the 12th 3-0 win of the season (25-18, 25-13, 25-18). Abbey Bybel led the Mustangs with 11 kills, and Caroline Young had 10, hitting .556 with no errors.
The Mustangs out-scored the Tigers (13-15, 5-9 American) 49 kills to 30, and hit .418 as a team, while holding Memphis to a .180 attack percentage. Freshman Morgan Heise had a match-high 13 digs and a kill, and Avery Acker recorded 37 assists and eight digs. Cailin Bula finished with nine, and Maddie Lozano posted seven kills and two blocks in her last home match at SMU. Senior Caroline Daly also recorded a block in the win.
After cruising to wins in the first two sets, the Tigers fought to keep the Mustangs from winning in three sets. SMU led by just two points after the first 30 serves of the set, 16-14, but a 6-2 run gave the Mustangs a 22-16 lead. Memphis was unable to threaten again, falling 25-18 in the third as SMU took the win.
Bula scored six kills on seven attacks to lead SMU to a 25-18 win in the first set. Memphis took a 7-4 lead to start the set, but a 9-4 run gave SMU a 14-12 lead. After the Tigers scored, cutting the lead to one, the Mustangs scored four straight to take an 18-13 lead. SMU held Memphis to just five more points to take the early advantage. The Mustangs hit .400 as a team in the set, and there were just nine attack errors between the two teams.
Bybel had five kills in the second set, matching the entire Memphis team, and SMU recorded 19 kills en route to a 25-13 win. SMU hit .533 as a team in the set, and held the Tigers to a .040 attack percentage. The Mustangs scored six of the first seven points, and Memphis never got within four points the rest of the way. Leading 19-13, SMU score the final six points to end the set.
The Mustangs begin a three match road trip at UCF Friday at 6 p.m. CT. SMU will play at USF on Sunday before concluding the regular season at Houston Nov. 27.
