MEMPHIS, Tenn. (SMU) – The SMU volleyball team swept Memphis (25-16, 25-13, 25-14) in the Elma Roane Fieldhouse Sunday afternoon. With the win, SMU improved to 13-6 overall, 7-1 in the American Athletic Conference, and extended its win streak against the Tigers to six matches.
Brittany Adams led the Mustangs with 11 kills, hitting .229, and had 13 digs for her seventh double-double of the season.
Montana Watts finished with 21 digs, a career high in a three-set match.
Meryn Kennedy and
Lauren Mills each scored eight kills, and
Lexi Nordmann added seven kills with five blocks.
The Mustangs completed the sweep with a 25-14 victory in the third set. SMU scored eight of the first 10 points and the rout was on. The Mustangs scored 15 kills as a team and hit .444 with just three errors, the most efficient set of the match.
As a team, SMU finished with 39 kills and a .248 attack percentage. The Mustangs entered the match averaging a league-best 17.32 digs per set and recorded 71 against the Tigers, averaging 23.67. Mills had 19 digs, and freshman
Julia DiBona tallied nine. Memphis (7-12, 0-7 The American) scored 28 kills and was limited to a .039 attack percentage.
SMU never trailed in the first set, which was tied just once at 1-1, winning 25-16. The Mustangs scored four of the first five points, and continued the scoring spree to take a 12-5 lead before Memphis went on a run. The Tigers rallied for a 4-1 run of their own, cutting the lead to four, 13-9, but SMU quickly regained control and ended the set with a nine-point advantage. Kennedy and Adams paced the Mustangs with three kills each, while Watts had eight of SMU's 29 digs.
The Mustangs trailed 4-3 in the second set before pulling away for a 25-13 win to take a 2-0 lead in the match. SMU scored 16 consecutive points to take a 19-4 lead. Memphis battled for nine more points before Kennedy and Brunstein combined for SMU's third block of the set to end it with the 12-point advantage. Adams scored six of SMU's 14 kills, and Mills had 11 digs and three kills in the set.
SMU plays at Connecticut Friday at 7 p.m. ET/6 p.m. CT before concluding a stretch of four straight road matches at Temple Sunday.
