Season Stats

HOUSTON (SMU) - The SMU volleyball team dropped its American Athletic Conference opener 3-0 (25-17, 29-27, 25-23) at Houston Friday night in the Cougar Den. Abbey Bybel led the Mustangs, scoring 11 kills with 14 digs for her sixth double-double of the season.

SMU (10-3, 0-1 The American) led 23-22 in the third set, but the Cougars (11-2, 1-0 The American) scored three straight points on two kills and a block to end the match. The Mustangs took an 8-2 lead to start the set. SMU's lead was still six, 15-9, when Houston mounted its comeback in an effort to avoid a fourth set. The Cougars scored eight of the next nine points, tying the score 16-16. With the score still tied, 19-19, SMU took a 21-19 lead, but wasn't able to hold off Houston on the Cougars' home floor.

Cailin Bula had 10 kills for the Mustangs, hitting .391 with just one error, and Janelle Giordanohit .417 with five kills and no errors. Morgan Heise had 13 digs, and SMU recorded six blocks, but hit just .200 as a team, including a .103 attack percentage in the first set.

Brookah Palmer led the Cougars with 18 kills, and Hunter Wise added 13. Houston hit .272 in the match, and took advantage of 11 service errors by the Mustangs.

The Cougars hit .317 in the first set, claiming a 25-17 win to take the early advantage. The Cougars went on a 7-1 run to take a 12-6 lead, and kept the Mustangs from mounting a comeback. SMU scored just 11 kills in the set, despite three each from Bybel and Hegarty.

SMU hit .279 in the second set, but were unable to convert on four set point attempts, falling 29-27, as Houston took a 2-0 lead in the match. Leading 24-22, SMU committed two errors, and had two more chances after the Cougars tied the score, 24-24. Houston scored kills each time, and eventually put back-to-back kills together to take the set. Bybel and Bula each had five kills to lead the Mustangs, but Palmer scored a set-high eight for Houston.

The Mustangs conclude the first weekend of American Athletic Conference matches at Tulane Sunday at noon. SMU then returns home to host Tulsa Wednesday at 6 p.m., starting a stretch of four consecutive matches in Moody Coliseum.