Box Score GREENVILLE, N.C. (SMU) – SMU defeated ECU 3-1 on the road Friday night (25-23, 25-17, 23-25, 25-13), winning its seventh straight conference match to move into a tie with Houston for first place in the American Athletic Conference West Division.

It was the defense that led the way for the Mustangs, finishing with 89 digs and nine blocks, holding ECU to a .124 attack percentage. Lily Heim has a match-high 22 digs with 50 assists, and Montana Watts tallied 20 digs. Kendall Patterson and freshman Makayla Miller recorded 18 and 15, respectively, giving the Mustangs four defenders with more than 10 in the match. Meryn Kennedy led SMU at the net with five of the nine blocks, and Rachel Woulfe was credited with four.

Hannah Jacobs led the offense with 18 kills, and Woulfe and Jadyn Bauss each scored 10. SMU hit .248 with 60 kills in the match, improving to 14-5 overall, 7-2 in The American.

The Mustangs cruised to a 25-13 win in the fourth set to end the match. SMU took a 10-5 lead early, and never let ECU (15-7, 3-6 The American) within striking distance. The Pirates edged out SMU in the third set, winning 25-23 in the back-and-forth affair. The Mustangs scored the first three points, and led 7-4 before ECU answered with a run. ECU tied the score, 11-11, and neither team led by more than one until the Pirates scored three straight for an 18-15 advantage. SMU tied it at 19-19, one of five tied in the last 11 serves. After a Jacobs kill for SMU, ECU scored a kill and forced an SMU attack error to avoid the sweep.

ECU scored the first six points of the opening set, but the Mustangs came back to win, 25-23. SMU scored three straight kills to take its first lead of the match, 15-14, capping off a 5-0 run. ECU scored four of the next five points for a two-point advantage, 18-16, and still led by two, 21-19. SMU posted kills on three of the next four points, and outscored ECU 6-2 down the stretch for the two-point win.

SMU finished with a larger point differential in the second set, but the 25-17 victory was not any less dramatic than the first set. ECU again started with a big lead, scoring six of the first seven points. The Mustangs answered with the next seven points, scoring three kills with an ace and a block during the stretch. With the score tied, 9-9, went on a 10-2 run, taking a 19-11 lead. SMU scored six kills during the rally, ending any threat from the Pirates.

The Mustangs play at conference leader Cincinnati Sunday at 1 p.m. ET/12 p.m. CT.