DALLAS (SMU) – The SMU volleyball team came up short in its ACC home opener, falling to No. 5 Pittsburgh in five sets (20-25, 25-23, 19-25, 25-18, 9-15). SMU dropped to 8-3 while Pittsburgh improved to 9-2 on the year.

Despite the loss, Malaya Jones had an outstanding outing against the Panthers, leading the match with 23 kills while hitting .422 and recording seven digs.  

Averi Carlson distributed 47 assists in the five-setter, along with five digs, four blocks and two aces. Jordyn Schilling led the match with 14 digs and added three assists and an ace.
 
Jadyn Livings joined Jones in double-figures with 13 kills, extending her streak of 10+ kills to seven straight matches. In the middle, Favor Anyanwu put down six terminations, hitting .333 with a match-high eight blocks.
 
Pittsburgh hit .294 in the match while SMU swung at a .187 percent clip. SMU out-blocked Pitt 13-9 and had nine aces compared to just six for the Panthers.
 
MATCH NOTES: 

• SMU is now 2-1 in five-set matches this season.  
• With the win, Pitt takes a 2-1 series advantage over the Mustangs.
• Under head coach Sam Erger, SMU is 49-11 in conference matches.
• Malaya Jones has reached double-digit kills in four straight outings. It is the eighth time this season she has had 10 or more kills, and her fourth time of the season with 20 or more point-scoring attacks.
• Freshman Maggie Croft has now had multiple aces in three straight. It was her fifth outing with multiple aces this season.
• Jordyn Schilling went over 10 digs for the sixth time this year and 66th of her career.

 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
SET ONE | SMU started the match firing on all cylinders, working to gather a 4-1 advantage. Pitt managed to settle in and used a 4-0 run, beginning at the 7-6 mark, to take a 9-7 lead, forcing SMU to call a timeout to regroup. Out of the stoppage, the Panthers tallied two more points on an ace and an attack error by the Mustangs to go up 11-7. Pitt later stretched its lead out to eight at 22-14, a deficit that SMU was never able to recover from, despite a late 4-0 push that got the Mustangs back within four at 22-18. Pittsburgh went on to win the frame 25-20, led by Olivia Babcock, who had six kills in the first.
 
SET TWO | SMU opened the second set hot again, but this time was able to maintain the lead, unlike set one. The Mustangs created some separation midway through, going up 19-14 for their largest lead of the match. A late push by the Panthers followed as they rallied to even the score at 22-22, but SMU didn't let the momentum switch stop them from evening the match at one set each. SMU closed the frame with three of the final four points, including kills from Jones and Livings. The Mustangs' offense was humming in the second set, hitting a match-best .423. Jones led the Mustangs with eight kills on 12 swings in the set, tied for the most kills in a set this season for the graduate opposite. Livings also played in four kills on six swings in the frame.
 
SET THREE | It was the Panthers that opened the set strong in the third as they put up four straight, forcing SMU into an early timeout. The Mustangs chipped away in spurts as the set went along, but Pitt had an answer for every run SMU went on, and SMU was unable to slow down the Panthers' attack. A kill from Anyanwu cut the Mustangs' deficit down to three (14-11), but Pitt got points on four of the following five rallies to extend its lead to six at 18-12. The Panthers cruised from that stretch on to win the frame 25-19. Pitt got it going offensively in the third, hitting its best percentage of the match at .414 and siding out at an 80 percent rate, the most of any frame for either team in the five-setter.
 
SET FOUR | The Mustangs responded well in set four with their backs against the wall, needing a victory to keep the match alive. The fourth set opened in a back-and-forth manner until a kill by Jones and two attack errors by Pitt at the 13-10 mark gave SMU its first sizable lead. The Panthers kept within striking distance, but a magical sequence late from Madison Scheer propelled SMU to a fourth-set victory. Scheer collected three straight points with the Mustangs up 20-17. A kill and then back-to-back aces from the transfer outside gave SMU the cushion it needed to close the set out. A kill from Newsome and a block from the transfer duo of USC in Anyanwu and Livings sealed set four, 25-18, in favor of SMU. SMU held Pitt to its lowest percentage of the match at .043 in the fourth set and notched four blocks in the frame.
 
SET FIVE | Pitt setter Brooke Mosher made all the difference in the deciding set in Dallas. With Mosher at the service line, the redshirt junior put the Panthers up 5-0 and had two aces during the run. Pitt stretched its lead further, capitalizing on its electric start guided by Mosher, increasing its lead to as much as eight (11-3). The Mustangs showed some fight late with four straight with Pitt at set point, but the deficit was too large, as the Panthers got out of Dallas with a victory 3-2 with a 15-9 set five score.
 
SMU LEADERS:
SMU Kills Leader: Malaya Jones (23)
SMU Assist Leader: Averi Carlson (47)
SMU Digs Leader: Jordyn Schilling (14)
SMU Blocks Leader: Favor Anyanwu (8)
SMU Ace Leader: Three with (2)
SMU Points Leader: Malaya Jones (25.5)

Up Next: SMU will battle No. 5 Pitt once more on Sunday, Sept. 28, in Pittsburgh. First serve is set for 2 p.m. CT with the match being televised on ESPN.