DALLAS (SMU) – The SMU volleyball team swept East Carolina (25-19, 26-24, 25-17) Saturday for its 10th American Athletic Conference win of the season, improving to 16-7 overall and 10-2 in league action.
Brittany Adams led the team with a match-high 16 kills, including seven in the first set.
The Mustangs ended the match with a 25-17 victory in the third set. After a tight finished to the second set, SMU took an 8-3 lead to start the third, and the advantage was never in danger of being erased. The Pirates (15-9, 7-5 The American) were never closer than four points the rest of the set.
The victory was the 13th straight in the series for SMU, which is 14-4 all-time against East Carolina and 8-1 at home in the series.
Kelly Brunstein and
Lauren Mills scored seven kills each for SMU, while
Meryn Kennedy added six and
Katie Hegarty finished with five. Adams hit .324, and SMU finished with a .230 attack percentage and 42 kills as a team.
Montana Watts led a defense that held ECU to a .168 attack percentage, finishing with 20 digs in the three-set win. Mills and
Kendall Patterson each recorded 10 digs. Patterson also had 35 assists for her 11th double-double of the season.
Adams brought the Mustangs back in the first set for a 25-19 victory. SMU trailed by three, 16-13, before going on an 8-1 run to take a commanding 21-17 lead late. Adams scored five of her seven kills during the stretch, propelling the Mustangs to the win. SMU and ECU both had 12 kills, but the Mustangs hit .206 while ECU managed just a .103 attack percentage with eight errors in the opening set.
SMU edged out the Pirates in the second set, 26-24, for a 2-0 lead in the match. The Mustangs led 13-9, but ECU battled back to take a 15-15 lead. The lead never got larger than one point for ECU, but the Pirates had the advantage with the first chance to win the set, leading 24-23. The Mustangs took advantage of a pair of ECU mistakes before Adams blasted a kill near the end line to win the set for SMU.
The Mustangs play at Houston Friday at 7 p.m. and at Tulane Sunday at 1 p.m. SMU then returns home to play five of its last six regular-season matches.
