SMU Volleyball Loses To Southern Miss

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HATTIESBURG, Miss. (SMU) – Jessica Oliver led the Mustangs with 14 kills, and three other players each had 12 kills against Southern Miss, but it wasn’t enough as SMU fell 3-2 (16-25, 25-20, 22-25, 25-22, 15-12) on the road Friday night.

Dana Powell, Courtney Manning and Caroline Young all had 12 kills to join Oliver in double-figures, but Ashley Mell, who came into the match fourth in Conference USA in kills per set, led the Golden Eagles with 20 kills for the win.

Sidney Stewart finished with a team-high 21 digs, and Powell added 19 for her 16th double-double of the season. Setters Kelli Becerra and Kendrick Koch also had double-doubles, with Becerra recording 26 assists and 11 digs while Koch had 23 assists and 15 digs. Becerra also pushed her career total to 1,179, passing Leslie Olson for most digs by an SMU setter.

The Golden Eagles (13-13, 7-7 C-USA) held off the Mustangs at the end of the fourth set to even the match and force a decisive fifth set. The Mustangs (11-15, 7-7 C-USA) held onto a one-point lead in the fifth, 10-9, but Mell scored five kills on USM’s next six points as the Golden Eagles out-scored SMU 6-2 to win 15-12 and take the match.

After Southern Miss evened the match in the second 25-20, SMU took the advantage again in the third with a 25-22 victory. The Golden Eagles opened the set with a 10-5 run, but the Mustangs rallied, finally tying the set 17-17. SMU took its first lead of the set 21-20 and held on for a 25-22 win and a 2-1 advantage in the match.

The Mustangs stormed out to a 25-16 victory in the first set. SMU scored four of the first five points of the match and stretched the lead to five, 11-6. By the time Southern Miss got to 11 points, SMU had scored 20. The teams alternated points down the stretch, each scoring five to get to a 25-16 score to end the first set.

SMU will take on the Golden Eagles again Saturday at 7 p.m. before traveling to Houston next weekend to take on Houston and Rice to close out the four-match road trip.

 

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