SMU Volleyball Defeats Memphis
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (SMU) – The SMU volleyball team defeated Memphis 3-1 (25-20, 22-25, 25-19, 25-9) for a program record 12th straight win, improving to 12-1 in the American Athletic Conference and 22-3 overall. The Mustangs had 16 blocks, second most in a match this season, and 86 digs to hold the Tigers to a .102 attack percentage. Heise had 32 of SMU’s digs, tied for 10th all-time in a match at SMU, including 19 in the last two sets.
The Mustangs won the fourth set 25-9, winning in Memphis for just the second time in program history to improve to 11-5 all-time against the Tigers. SMU scored seven of the first 10 points, scoring on three kills and two blocks. Leading 13-5, SMU went on a 9-0 for a 22-5 lead. Memphis scored four more points before the match ended, falling 25-9 as the match ended.
Cailin Bula led the Mustangs in kills for the second straight match, scoring 12 with a .345 attack percentage, and Abbey Bybel added 10. Katie Hegarty and Kristen Stehling each finished with nine kills. Janelle Giordano had
nine of SMU’s 16 blocks, and Stehling had six blocks, three solo. Avery Acker posted her 14th double-double with 47 assists and 15 digs. Bybel also had 13 digs for her ninth double-double of the season, and freshman Brittany Adams recorded a season-high 11 digs.
SMU took a 7-1 lead to start the third set, scoring on five kills and a block. The fast start was enough as the Mustangs held on for a 25-19 win to take a 2-1 lead in the match. SMU stretched its lead to as many as nine, 15-6, before the Tigers started to rally back into the set. The Tigers slowly cut the lead to two, 20-18, but SMU scored five of the next six points to end the set. The Mustangs hit .245 with 20 kills, while holding Memphis to 11 kills and a .145 attack percentage.
With the score tied in the first set, 9-9, Giordano posted four blocks, three with assists from Hegarty, to ignite SMU’s 8-0 run. The Mustangs took a 17-9 lead, and held off a late rally by the Tigers to take a 25-20 win for a 1-0 lead in the match. Trailing 24-16, the Tigers scored four straight points before SMU scored the final point of the set when the Memphis setter was called for a ball handling error. The SMU defense finished with five blocks and 25 digs, 11 by Heise, to hold Memphis to a -.021 attack percentage.
The Tigers used a 9-5 run at the end of the second set to take a 25-22 victory, evening the match at one set each. SMU scored four of the first five points, but Memphis quickly came back to tie the score, 5-5. Neither team led by more than two points again until the Tigers scored three unanswered for a 20-17 lead. The advantage was enough to keep the Mustangs from having a chance for a fifth consecutive straight-set win. The Memphis offense rebounded from to the first set to hit .310 in the second with 15 kills. SMU was held to just 11 in the set, all assisted by Acker.
SMU plays at second-place Cincinnati Sunday at 1 p.m. ET/12 p.m. CT in the fourth consecutive road match.
