Season Stats

NEW ORLEANS (SMU) - The SMU volleyball team swept Tulane (25-20, 25-16, 25-19) Sunday afternoon in Devlin Fieldhouse, improving to 11-3 overall and 1-1 in the American Athletic Conference. Abbey Bybel led the Mustangs with nine kills, and Kristen Stehling added eight with a match-high .636 attack percentage.

SMU completed the sweep with a 25-19 victory in the third. The Mustangs took a 4-1 lead to start the set. Tulane (6-7, 1-1 The American) tied the score, 5-5, and while the score was tied three more times throughout the set, the Mustangs never trailed. SMU led by as many as eight in the final set, hitting .312 with 14 kills.

Avery Acker tallied 35 assists with eight digs, and Morgan Heise had a match-high 15 digs. Cailin Bula scored seven kills, and all nine SMU players scored a kill. SMU hit .287 as a team for the match, scoring 42 kills to Tulane's 31. The Green Wave hit .088 for the match.

The Mustangs went on an 11-5 run at the end of the first set to win 25-20. Tulane took a 5-1 lead to start the set, but SMU rallied back, taking its first lead at 11-10. The Green Wave answered with three straight to retake the lead, 13-11. SMU scored five straight to take a 19-15 lead, setting up the final push for the victory. The Mustangs hit .273 in the opening set, scoring 14 kills, while holding Tulane to a .095 attack percentage.

SMU cruised to a 25-16 win in the second set after scoring 10 of the first 14 points for a 10-4 lead. The Mustangs never trailed Tulane, gradually stretching the lead over the course of the set for final margin of nine, the largest of the set. The SMU defense was even more effective, holding the Green Wave to a .040 attack percentage, allowing just six kills, while scoring 14 again to hit .276.

The Mustangs host Tulsa Wednesday at 6 p.m. in Moody Coliseum. The match is the first of four straight at home for SMU.