STORRS, Conn. (SMU) – The SMU volleyball team swept Connecticut (25-23, 25-20, 27-25) Friday night, making it a perfect 10-0 in the all-time series.
Lauren Mills led the Mustangs with 13 kills;
Brittany Adams scored 11, and
Kelly Brunstein finished with 10 to give SMU three players in double figures. With the win, SMU improved to 14-6 overall and 8-1 in the American Athletic Conference.
The Mustangs completed the sweep with a 27-25 win in the third, scoring the last three points after UConn (10-11, 3-6 The American) scored five straight to take a 25-24 lead. Adams and
Lexi Nordmann combined for a block on the final point.
Brunstein hit a team-high .438, and Nordmann scored seven kills with a .429 attack percentage and three blocks.
Meryn Kennedy scored nine kills as SMU finished with 50 as a team, hitting .275.
Montana Watts anchored the defense, recording 18 digs, including 10 in the first set.
Kendall Patterson finished with 43 assists and 13 digs for her ninth double-double of the season.
SMU held off a late charge by the Huskies to win the first set, 25-23. Leading 20-16, SMU gave up for of the next five points as Connecticut cut the lead to one, 21-20. Kennedy scored to end the rally, and Adams kept the Huskies from tying the score with a kill two serves later. The junior scored her fourth kill of the set after another UConn point, give SMU a 24-22 lead. The Huskies fought off one set-point try, but not a second as SMU took the 1-0 lead. Kennedy also had four kills in the set, and Watts tallied 10 digs.
Adams added five kills in the second set to lead SMU to a 25-20 win as the Mustangs took a 2-0 lead in the match. From the point when UConn scored back-to-back kills to tie the score at 6-6 until the time an SMU service error let the Huskies tie the score at 17-17, neither team led by more than one point. SMU then scored three straight, including a kill by Adams, to take a 20-17 lead. Two serves later and still holding a three point lead, Adams went on a 3-1 run of her own, scoring two kills and a service ace to give the Mustangs a 24-19 lead. After Connecticut scored, Mills blasted her fifth kill of the set for the 25-20 win.
The Mustangs play at Temple Sunday at 12 p.m. ET/11 a.m. CT. SMU then returns home to host Cincinnati Thursday and East Carolina Saturday.
