SMU Volleyball Wins Arkansas Invitational
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FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (SMU) – Morgan Heise posted a career-high 38 digs, third most in a match at SMU, as SMU defeated Arkansas 3-2 (25-18, 25-21, 21-25, 26-28, 15-7) to win the Arkansas Invitational. Heise was named Best Libero of the tournament, finishing with 66 digs in 11 sets on the weekend.
The Mustangs scored the first eight points of the fifth set and kept the margin, winning 15-7 for their third victory of the weekend. With the win, SMU improved to 8-1 overall, winning eight straight matches. Arkansas fell to 4-6 on the season. Abbey Bybel led SMU with 15 kills and recorded 13 digs for her fifth double-double of the season.
Avery Acker was named tournament MVP, recording 57 assists and 13 digs for her eighth double-double of the season. Caroline Young earned her third tournament award of the season, scoring 14 kills including the last point of the match. The senior also had nine digs and five aces in the win. Janelle Giordano joined Young on the all-tournament team, scoring a
season-high 12 kills against Arkansas. Cailin Bula also had 11 kills, giving SMU four players with at least 10 kills.
Arkansas came back from a 19-12 deficit to win the fourth set 28-26, forcing a fifth set. The Mustangs opened the gap early, taking an 8-4 lead, and extended it to as many as seven before the Razorbacks mounted the comeback. SMU led by five, 24-19, but four consecutive attack errors, two on Arkansas blocks, evened the score 24-24. The Mustangs had one more shot at match point in the set, but another block by the Razorbacks kept it even. SMU survived the first set-point attempt by Arkansas, but a kill and the eighth block of the set gave Arkansas the win.
Young scored a kill to tie the first set, 15-15, and went to the service line. SMU scored six more points before Arkansas won the serve back, two on aces by Young, building a 21-15 lead. Arkansas rallied to cut the lead to three, 21-18, but the Mustangs scored the next four to take the first set, 25-18. Heise had eight digs in the set, and SMU held the Razorbacks to just nine kills.
The serve of Young was again the difference as the senior scored two straight aces to give SMU a 24-20 lead in the second set. The Mustangs won the set 25-21 to take a 2-0 lead in the match. Heise had nine of SMU’s 14 digs in the set, and Bybel had a set-high four kills to take her match total to eight. The Razorbacks took a 6-3 lead early, but the Mustangs rallied to tie the score, 8-8. The score remained within two points the rest of the way until Young’s aces at the end.
Heise led the SMU defense with eight digs in the third set, but the offense managed just 11 kills as Arkansas forced a fourth set with a 25-21 win. The Mustangs trailed by five, 20-15, but cut the lead to two with three straight points. The lead was still just two, 22-20, when Arkansas called timeout. The Razorbacks scored three of the next four points to win the set. SMU was held to a .079 attack percentage, but had 17 digs in the set.
The Mustangs return home to host the SMU Doubletree Classic Sept. 19 and 20. SMU will start the tournament against Houston Baptist Friday at 12:30 p.m. SMU will also face College of Charleston and New Mexico in the tournament.
