DALLAS (SMU) – Katie Hegarty scored a career-high 23 kills to lead the SMU volleyball team to a 3-0 win against Little Rock in the final match of the SMU DoubleTree Classic in Moody Coliseum Saturday. SMU improved to 2-1, finishing as the runner-up in the tournament, with Hegarty earning all-tournament honors.
Morgan Heise was named the Best Libero.
SMU ended the match with a 25-22 win in the third set, pushing Little Rock to 0-3 on the season. The Mustangs took a 15-5 lead to start the set, scoring six unanswered at the end of the run to build the 10-point advantage. With the lead still 10, 20-10, Little Rock rallied back, scoring six of the next eight points to cut the lead to six. Trailing 23-16, the Trojans battled to get within two, 24-22, before Hegarty scored to give SMU the match.
Lauren Mills had nine kills for the Mustangs, and
Kristen Stehling added seven.
Kendall Patterson had 40 assists, and
Morgan Heise finished with 13 digs. SMU held Little Rock to a .051 attack percentage, but it was the defense that kept the Trojans in the match. Little Rock recorded 17.0 team blocks, while SMU posted just four.
The Mustangs trailed by three, 20-17, late in the first set, but rallied back to win the set, 25-22. Hegarty scored four of the final eight points for the Mustangs, finishing the set with eight kills on 13 attempts. SMU took an early lead, 6-4, but Little Rock scored the next four, and held the edge until SMU recaptured the lead, 22-21, with a 5-1 run.
SMU took a 2-0 lead in the match, holding on for a 25-23 victory in the second set. With SMU leading 21-17 late in the set, Little Rock battled all the way back, tying the score 23-23 on an attack error by Hegarty. The SMU opposite calmly smashed kills on her next two attempts to give the Mustangs the win. She finished the set with eight kills, needing just two sets to eclipse her previous career high of 13 kills.
The Mustangs play Pepperdine Friday at 12 p.m. CT in Tuscon, Ariz. The Arizona Invitational is the first of three straight road weekends for the Mustangs, who don't play in Moody Coliseum again until Sept. 22, the American Athletic Conference opener.
