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DALLAS (SMU) – No. 10 SMU volleyball saw their magical season come to a close Friday night as the Mustangs fell to Missouri (22-8) in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The Mustangs finished the 2024 season, their first as a member of the ACC, 25-8 and reached the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in program history and second consecutive season.

Naya Shime led the Mustangs with a season-high  22 kills, hitting .487 with four digs. Maya Tabron also reached double-figures, tallying 14 kills while adding 11 digs. Celia Cullen logged 47 assists and nine digs.
 
As a team, SMU hit .267 against the Tigers. Missouri out-blocked the Mustangs 12-10 and edged SMU in digs 46-45. The Tigers won the serve and pass battle with 11 aces to just one by the Mustangs.
 
MATCH NOTES:

• Naya Shime's 22 kills were the most by a Mustang in an NCAA Tournament game in program history. It was also her third match this season with 20+ kills.
• Maya Tabron logged her 13th double-double of the year Friday night, becoming just the second Mustangs to have a double-double in the NCAA Tournament, joining her teammate Naya Shime, who had 14 kills and 11 digs against Texas State last season.
• Under Coach Sam Erger, the Mustangs are 73-25.
• SMU came into the season with just three ranked wins in programs 28 year history. This season alone, SMU took down seven ranked opponents, including No. 1 Pitt and No. 2 Nebraska.
• The Mustangs finished 2024 with a season attendance of 30,976, a new program record. 

 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
SET ONE | After a back-to-back service, the Tigers raced to a 6-3 advantage early. SMU started to settle in, answering with a 5-0 run to take an 8-6 lead. Missouri fought back to even the score at 11-all on back-to-back kills. After trading points for a shot stretch, Missouri used a 3-0 scoring run, two of the three points coming on aces, to take an 18-16 lead. The Tigers got back two and jumped in front by one. SMU managed to tie it with a service error by Missouri, but the Tigers collected four of the next five to reach set point, 24-21. A service error by the Tigers kept SMU in it, but the Mustangs had a service error of their own, resulting in a 25-22 set one loss. Tabron led the Mustangs with five kills.
 
SET TWO | Missouri opened the set, scoring three of the first four. The Tigers kept a three-to-four points lead until the 13-10 mark, when Missouri went on a 3-0 run to take a 16-10 advantage. The Tigers continued to control the frame, going on a 5-0 run starting four points later, to increase their lead to 10. Missouri ended the match, scoring three of the last four to take set two 25-14. Shime ended the set with six kills, the highest by either team.

SET THREE | The Tigers scored the third set's first four points. Two straight points by each team followed to keep Missouri's lead at four. SMU worked to within two on a kill from Shime (9-7), but the Tigers stretched out their lead with two straight kills followed by a block, putting Missouri up five at 12-7. SMU began to regain their mojo, collecting seven of the next nine, including a 6-0 run to go up one (14-13). The teams traded points until three straight by the Mustangs starting at the 22-21 mark, coming on a kill from Foster and Tabron followed by a block from the duo, which put SMU at set point. However, the Tigers rallied for three straight of their own, two of the three points coming on aces. Missouri and SMU duked it out for nine set points before SMU came out with the victory. The Tigers were up in the frame 31-30, but three straight points, including back-to-back kills from Tabron and an ace from Bolton, kept the Mustangs season alive for at least another set. Shime led the Mustangs for the second straight set with seven kills. SMU hit .341 in the frame and had six blocks.
 
SET FOUR | Missouri took a 3-2 lead to start the fourth frame before four straight by the Mustangs on two errors, a kill from Foster and Shime, put SMU up 6-3. The Tigers closed the gap to one, logging four of the next five, and eventually evened the set at 14-all. After a Shime kill and then the 15-point media timeout, Missouri jumped in front by two on back-to-back kills and an ace. SMU responded with a kill from Shime and then a block from Cullen and Nnedi to level the score at 17-17. The Mustangs held a one-point advantage, as they were the first team to 20, but gave up a 4-0 run, three of them on kills from Mychael Vernon, who ended the match with 23 kills. The stretch gave Missouri a 23-20 lead. SMU fought until the bitter end, but the Tigers got the best of the Mustangs, as they took the fourth set 25-22, defeating SMU in four sets. Despite the set loss, Shime went off for eight kills in the final set.
 
SMU LEADERS:
SMU Kills Leader: Naya Shime (22)
SMU Assist Leader: Celia Cullen (47)
SMU Digs Leader: Maya Tabron (11)
SMU Blocks Leader: Nnedi Okammor (6)
SMU Ace Leader: Ellie Bolton (1)