SMU Volleyball Wins Against Memphis
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DALLAS (SMU) – Maddie Lozano led the Mustangs with a career-high 15 kills and 12 of SMU’s season-high 19 blocks, which ranks tied for third all-time in a match at SMU, in a 3-2 comeback win over Memphis Sunday in Moody Coliseum (18-25, 25-18, 25-27, 25-21, 15-11).
After the Tigers (9-18, 4-8 Conference USA) edged out the Mustangs (9-15, 6-6 C-USA) with a 27-25 win in the third set to take a 2-1 lead in the match, Lozano posted four kills and three blocks, and freshman Cailin Bula scored a set-high five kills, as the Mustangs won the fourth set 25-21 to force a fifth set. SMU broke a 9-9 tie with a 5-0 run for a 14-9 lead and kept the lead at five before the Tigers fought off two set points before Julianne Scheidler ended the set with her second kill of the season from the back row.
In the fifth, Memphis scored the first three points, but SMU rallied back to tie the set with the next three points. With the match tied 6-6, the Mustangs went on another run, scoring four straight to take a 10-6 lead. The Tigers didn’t get within three points the rest of the way. Lozano had three kills in four attempts in the final set, including a blast on match point to give SMU the win.
In the first set, it was the Tigers who got the first big run, breaking a 10-10 tie with a 7-2 run for a 17-12 lead. Memphis eventually took the set 25-18. The Mustangs battled back to take the second set in similar fashion. With the set tied 10-10, SMU scored four of the next five points to take a 14-11 lead. The Mustangs never trailed again, evening the match with the 25-18 win.
The third set was the closest of the match. SMU held the biggest lead, scoring four straight for an 18-14 lead. The Tigers fought back to tie the set 22-22, and erased a pair of SMU set points before converting their only attempt to win 27-25.
Bula finished the match with 11 kills, three blocks and three digs, and Lozano, a junior transfer, hit .407 with 15 kills and four errors in 27 attempts. Caroline Young and freshman Abbey Bybel each had 10 kills. Bybel also had three blocks, six digs and two aces in the match. Olivia Bailey had 48 assists and five blocks; while Courtney Manning had eight kills and five blocks to take her career total to 553, just 37 away from the Conference USA all-time record of 590.
The Mustangs next match is at UTEP in El Paso, Texas Friday at 8 p.m. CT. SMU returns to Moody Coliseum on Friday, Nov. 9 to host Houston at 7 p.m.
