DALLAS (SMU) – The SMU volleyball team lost in five sets (21-25, 17-25, 26-24, 25-22, 17-15) as Temple came back to win the last three sets in Moody Coliseum Thursday night. Katie Hegarty led the Mustangs with 19 kills, and Lauren Mills posted her 16th double-double of the season with 18 kills and 17 digs, but the seniors' performances were not enough in the loss.

SMU (18-8, 12-3 American Athletic Conference) led 15-14 in the fifth set, but the Owls (15-8, 11-4 The American) scored a kill and posted back-to-back blocks for the 17-15 win to claim the match. It was the only two-point lead for either team in a set that had 15 ties and seven lead changes. The Mustangs finished the match with 15 blocks, but were unable to post a block in the fatal fifth set.

Temple erased a two-point deficit late in the third set, winning 26-24 to avoid getting swept. SMU went on an 8-2 run, overcoming a six-point deficit to tie the score, 16-16. The Mustangs recaptured the lead, 18-17, and had a two-point advantage, two points from winning the match with a 23-21 lead after a Hegarty kill. Temple called timeout and came out of the break to score three straight. Kelly Brunstein got a kill to tie it, 24-24, but the Owls scored back-to-back kills for the win.

The Owls outscored SMU 5-2 down the stretch for a 25-22 victory in the fourth set, forcing a fifth. Overall, SMU hit .204, outscoring Temple 69-65 on the attack. Brunstein scored 12 kills, and Brittany Adams finished with 11, giving SMU four attackers in double figures. Adams also had 19 digs and seven blocks for her 10th double-double of the season. Meryn Kennedy added six kills and seven blocks, and Brunstein posted six blocks. Montana Watts finished with a match-high 24 digs, and Julia DiBona tallied 11.

The Mustangs won a back-and-forth first set, holding on at the end for a 25-21 victory. The lead changed sides four times, with SMU overcoming a 16-14 deficit, scoring three straight with two kills by Adams for a 17-16 lead. DiBona served an ace to make it a two-point advantage. Watts later served up a pair of aces for a five-point lead, 23-18, and Kennedy's kill gave SMU its largest lead of the set, 24-18. Temple scored three points before Adams ended the set with her fourth kill. Each team hit above .200, with Temple scoring 13 kills to SMU's 12, but the Mustangs had three blocks and four service aces for the win.

SMU caught fire at the end of the second set, using a 10-1 run to claim a 25-17 victory. With the Owls leading by one, 16-15, the Mustangs scored five straight with two kills and two blocks to take a 20-16 lead. After an SMU service error that was the only point for the Owls in the stretch, SMU got three straight kills by Mills, and ended the set with a block by Kennedy and Hegarty, SMU's seventh block of the set. The Mustangs outscored Temple 14-9 on the attack, holding the Owls to a -.024 attack percentage.

The Mustangs continue the four-match homestand Saturday at 1 p.m. against Connecticut.