DALLAS (SMU) – All five attackers scored double-digit kills to lead the SMU women's volleyball team to a five-set victory (25-15, 22-25, 25-22, 16-25, 15-10) at home against Cincinnati Saturday afternoon in Moody Coliseum. The Mustangs improved to 9-5 overall and 2-0 in the American Athletic Conference after the win against the preseason favorite. The Bearcats fell to 6-7 overall, 1-1 in The American.
Freshman setter
Kendall Patterson recorded a season-high 54 assists, and SMU hit .267 for the match, including a .543 attack percentage in the first set and .391 in the fifth set, with just one error in the first and no errors in the fifth.
Janelle Giordano led the Mustangs with 16 kills, hitting .342, and
Kristen Stehling and
Katie Hegarty each scored 13 kills. Freshman
Ashley Homan added 12 kills, and
Lauren Mills finished with 10.
Mills also had 10 digs for her fifth double-double.
Morgan Heise had a match-high 21 digs, becoming the second player in program history with 2,000 career digs. The senior has 2,020 digs, chasing Sidney Stewart's mark of 2,218.
Cincinnati forced SMU into only its second five-set match of the season with a 25-16 win in the fourth set. The Bearcats used a 10-3 run to take a 12-6 lead, and held the lead the rest of the set. SMU responded, scoring three of the first four points in the fifth set, and never trailed. The Mustangs won the final set 15-10 to take the match.
Leading 9-8, the Mustangs out-scored the Bearcats 16-8 over the duration of the first set, taking a 1-0 lead after the 25-16 win. SMU took a 5-1 lead to start the set against Cincinnati, and never trailed in the opening set. SMU hit .543 with 20 kills and just one attack error, led by Homan's five kills.
Cincinnati came back in the second set, tying the match with a 25-22 victory. SMU again captured an early lead, and held a two-point advantage, 17-15, before the Bearcats rallied for three straight to take their first lead of the match, 18-17. SMU never led again, but tied the score four more times before Cincinnati scored three straight to end the set.
SMU answered with a 25-22 win in the third set, taking a 2-1 lead in the match. With the score tied, 17-17, the Mustangs scored three of the next four points with two kills and a blocks, taking a 20-18 lead. SMU held off the Bearcats, out-scoring Cincinnati 5-4 the rest of the set for the three-point win.
The Mustangs return to the road this weekend, playing Tulane in New Orleans Friday at 7 p.m. The first conference road trip concludes Sunday at Houston at 1 p.m.
