GREENVILLE, N.C. (SMU) – Meryn Kennedy and Brittany Adams each posted career highs in kills to lead the SMU volleyball team to a 3-2 victory against East Carolina (19-25, 25-14, 27-25, 22-25, 15-7) in Greenville, N.C., Friday night. Kennedy led all scored with 20 kills, while Adams finished with 19, hitting .421.

SMU (9-5, 3-0 The American) won the fifth set 15-7 for its 12th straight win against the Pirates (9-6, 1-2 The American). ECU scored the first two points of the final set, and led 3-2, but the Mustangs rallied for seven straight points, taking a 9-3 lead. The Pirates did not threaten the rest of the way, and SMU took the win.

Lauren Mills finished with 15 kills, and Katie Hegarty made it four Mustangs in double figures with 10 kills. SMU scored 76 kills as a team, hitting .255. Kendall Patterson had a season-high 59 assists and 11 digs for her sixth double-double of the season. Lexi Nordmann added seven kills and two blocks, including a big solo block in the fifth set.

SMU held on in the third set, taking a 2-1 lead in the match with a 27-25 victory. Leading 22-19, SMU gave up two straight points, allowing the Pirates to cut the lead to one. The Mustangs scored kills on two of the next three points, serving for the set with a 24-22 lead. ECU scored three straight to take a 25-24 lead, but SMU rallied to score the next three points and win the set.

East Carolina forced a fifth set with a 25-22 win in the fourth. With the score tied, 12-12, the Pirates scored four straight, taking advantage of three SMU errors. The lead was still four for ECU, 22-18, but the Mustangs scored back-to-back points to cut it in half, 22-20. The Pirates got to set point with a three-point advantage, 24-21. SMU scored on a kill by Mills, but ECU answered with a kill to end the set and send the match to a fifth set.

The Mustangs committed 10 attack errors in the first set, with ECU recording six blocks, suffering a 25-19 defeat. SMU had five of its errors early, helping the Pirates take an 11-6 lead. ECU stretched the lead to six, the largest margin of the set, with a block to take an 18-12 lead, and maintained the advantage through the final point of the first set.

SMU bounced back for a 25-14 win in the second set. Kennedy led the offensive onslaught with seven of the team's 15 kills. The Mustangs hit .317 in the set, committing just four errors, while ECU was limited to 10 kills and a .118 attack percentage. SMU scored seven of the first eight points, and the Pirates never got closer than four points down the rest of the set.

The Mustangs play at Cincinnati Sunday at 1 p.m. ET/12 p.m. CT to wrap up the first road trip of the conference slate. The Bearcats are also 3-0 in AAC matches after a 3-1 win against Tulsa.