RALEIGH, N.C. (SMU) – Katie Hegarty scored 18 kills to lead SMU to a 3-0 win against High Point Saturday at the NC State Invitational. The win is the third straight sweep for the Mustangs, who improved to 5-3 on the season, while High Point fell to 6-3.

Hegarty led the SMU offense for the seventh straight match, and has reached double figures in five three-set wins this season. Janelle Giordano posted eight blocks, the third highest total in a three-set match at SMU, and Morgan Heise is tied for fourth in a three-set match with 24 digs. Freshman Kendall Patterson recorded her second double-double with 36 assists and a career-high 19 digs.

SMU finished off the Panthers with a 25-11 victory in the third set. SMU scored the first four points, and took a 7-2 lead before High Point used its first timeout. Four serves later, SMU led 10-3, and the Panthers used their final timeout. The Mustangs continued to with the momentum, steadily increasing the lead until Kristen Stehling scored on the first match point attempt for the largest margin of the match, 14 points.

The Mustangs hit .278 as a team, and out-scored High Point 45-30 off the attack. SMU held the Panthers to a .056 attack percentage, the third straight match keeping the opponent to less than a .100 attack percentage. Kristen Stehling scored nine kills with four blocks, and Lauren Mills added six kills and six blocks. SMU had 12 total blocks as a team, with High Point recording just three.

Late in the first set, SMU was serving and playing defense with the score tied, 23-23. Giordano teamed with Mills on the left side of the net and then Hegarty on the right side, scoring two blocks to give SMU a 25-23 win in the first set. The Mustangs scored the first four points of the match with two blocks and two kills, and extended the lead to as many as six, 16-10, before High Point charged back. The Panthers used a 4-0 run to cut the lead to one, 18-17, and even took a one-point lead, 23-22, before the senior middle blocker's late heroics above the net. Giordano had five blocks in the set.

No heroics were needed in the second set, as SMU easily took a 2-0 lead in the match with a 25-16 win. The score was tied early, 4-4, but SMU quickly took a five-point lead, 12-7, and then used a 4-1 run to extend the lead to six, 16-8. High Point never got within seven points the rest of the set. Hegarty scored six kills to get to double digits, scoring 10 in just two sets, and SMU hit .410 as a team in the set.

The win sets up a championship match against host NC State Saturday night at 7 p.m. ET/6 p.m. CT.