TAMPA, Fla. (SMU) – Lauren Mills scored a career-high 19 kills with 14 digs for her ninth double-double of the season to lead the SMU volleyball team to a 3-1 win (25-18, 25-16, 21-25, 25-20) in The Corral Friday night. The junior was one of three SMU attackers to score at least 10 kills, with
Katie Hegarty finishing with 12 and
Brittany Adams adding 11.
The Mustangs (15-6, 8-1 American Athletic Conference) won the fourth set, 25-20, to end the match. After USF (14-7, 5-4 The American) won the third set, SMU rallied for a commanding 14-6 lead to start the fourth. The lead was seven, 19-12, before the Bulls began to rally. USF cut the lead to three, 23-20, before Hegarty and Adams scored back-to-back kills to end the match.
SMU scored 56 kills, with freshman setter
Kendall Patterson recording 47 assists.
Morgan Heise tallied 22 digs, eclipsing 20 for the third time in the last four matches. Patterson also had 14 digs for her eighth double-double of the season. The Mustangs also had seven blocks as a team, with
Janelle Giordano posting four block assists and
Kristen Stehling and Hegarty each recording three blocks assists.
USF avoided the sweep with a 25-21 win in the third set, holding off an SMU team that erased a three-point deficit, 19-16, to tie the score five serves later, 20-20. After the SMU run, which consisted of three kills and a block by the Mustangs, the Bulls scored five kills on the next six serves to win the set.
SMU won the first set, 25-18, scoring five unanswered to take a 20-13 lead en route to the win. SMU took a 7-3 lead to start the match, but the Bulls scored four in a row to cut what was a five-point lead down to one, 12-11. The Mustangs rallied to stretch the lead again, and held on down the stretch. Stehling had four kills and two of SMU's three blocks in the set, and Patterson assisted on all 13 of SMU's kills.
Mills scored nine of SMU's 17 kills in the second set, leading the Mustangs to a 25-16 win and a 2-0 lead in the match. SMU hit .387, while holding USF to a .069 attack percentage in the second set. SMU again took an early lead, 7-2, but the Bulls fought back, cutting the lead to two, 8-6. SMU stretched the lead to seven with a 5-1 run, 16-9. USF rallied back to cut the lead to three, 18-15. Two serves later, SMU went on a 6-0 run to end the set.
SMU plays at UCF Sunday at 1 p.m. ET/12 p.m. CT, playing a third straight road match. The Knights swept Tulsa Friday and are 7-2 in the conference with a 17-5 record overall.
