SMU
Houston
Mustangs Defeat Houston 3-1 In Dig Pink Match
Oct 10 | Volleyball
DALLAS (SMU) - The Mustangs defeated Houston 3-1 Friday night in Moody Coliseum, improving to 14-3 overall and 3-2 in the American Athletic Conference. Abbey Bybel led SMU with 13 kills, and Morgan Heise had 26 digs, knocking Houston to 9-8, 1-4 in The American.
After losing the third set by two points, SMU started the fourth set with a 10-2 run, and easily ended the match with a 25-14 win in the fourth. Houston never got within seven points the rest of the set, and freshman Katie Hegarty scored the final kill of the match. Playing the front row in place of injured senior Caroline Young, Hegarty finished with 11 kills, hitting .300 in her first start.
Young, playing the only the back row five days after an ankle injury took her out of a match at Memphis, recorded nine digs and three aces. Cailin Bula gave SMU three attackers with at least 10 kills, scoring 12. Avery Acker posted her 12th double-double of the season with 45 assists and 17 digs. Bybel also had 11 digs for her seventh double-double of the season.
SMU finished the match hitting .264, while holding Houston to a .101 attack percentage. The Mustangs had 54 kills, and posted 12.0 blocks with 74 digs. Kristen Stehling recorded a career-high nine blocks and scored seven kills.
Houston forced a fourth set with a 25-23 win in the third, scoring back-to-back kills after taking a timeout to break a 23-23 tie for the victory. SMU scored five straight to break a 6-6 tie and take an 11-6 lead, but the Cougars battled back, tying the score 15-15. Neither team led by more than one point again until the Cougars scored their 25th point for the win, but the Mustangs weren't able to recapture the lead. SMU had just one block, and hit only .209, while Houston hit .280, its highest attack percentage of the match.
The Mustangs scored 10 points before Houston scored its fourth in the first set. SMU stretched the lead to 10, 17-7, and cruised to a 25-13 win in the opening set. Bula led the offensive attack with five kills, and Bybel scored four. Defensively, Acker and Heise each posted eight digs, with SMU totaling 19. The Mustangs hit .333, while holding Houston to a .022 attack percentage.
SMU took a 2-0 lead in the match with a 25-18 victory in the second set. The Mustangs used another fast start to take control of the set, racing out to an 11-5 lead. Houston scored three straight to cut the lead to three, 11-8, but SMU went on a 9-2 run for a 20-10 lead. With the lead at nine, 22-13, the Cougars used a 5-1 run to battle back, cutting the lead to 23-18. SMU scored the next two points to end the set, 25-18. Bybel again had four kills, leading SMU in the set, and the Mustangs defense recorded four blocks.
The Mustangs host Tulane Sunday at 1 p.m. before going on the road for the next four matches. SMU then returns to Moody Coliseum to host Memphis on Nov. 7.
