Stehling Leads Vball To Season-Opening Sweep Against Montana

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From SMUMustangs.com:

Stehling Leads Mustangs To Season-Opening Sweep Against Montana

DALLAS (SMU) – Kristen Stehling scored 13 kills to lead the SMU volleyball team to a 3-0 win against Montana in the season opener Friday in Moody Coliseum. The Mustangs hit .341 as a team in their first match of the DoubleTree Classic.

SMU ended the match with a 25-17 win in the third set. The Mustangs took a 16-9 lead with an 8-2 run to take control of the final set. Katie Hegarty also reached double figures, scoring 11 kills in the match with a .400 attack percentage. Stehling hit .765 with no errors in 17 attacks. Lauren Mills scored seven kills with nine digs. Morgan Heise finished with 16 digs in the three-set match, and freshman Kendall Patterson recorded assists on 36 of SMU's 41 kills.

Montana was held to a .134 attack percentage, scored 25 kills with 12 errors in 97 attacks. SMU committed just 10 errors in 91 attacks for the .341 hitting percentage. The Mustangs also scored on eight service aces, and had five blocks, with three by Patterson.

The Mustangs won the first set of the season, 25-17, while holding Montana to a .030 attack percentage with 18 digs and a pair of blocks. The Mustangs hit .250 in the set, scoring 12 kills with four aces. Stehling and Mills combined for six kills to lead SMU with three each. SMU scored eight of the first 12 points for an 8-4 lead. After Montana scored the next two, cutting the lead in half, SMU went on a 6-2 run, taking a 14-8 lead. The Griz never got within four points again. Patterson recorded nine assists in her first collegiate set.

SMU took a 2-0 lead in the match with a 25-16 win in the second set. Stehling again led the offensive attack, matching Hegarty with four of SMU's 15 kills in the set. The Mustangs hit .500, led by Stehling's .800 attack percentage with no errors in five attacks. Patterson assisted on 14 of the 15 kills, and Mills and Heise combined for 11 of the Mustangs' 22 digs in the set. Leading 9-7, SMU went on a 5-1 run to take a 14-8 lead. The Griz cut the lead to three, 16-13, but the Mustangs out-scored Montana 9-3 over the final 12 points for the win.

The Mustangs face UTSA Friday at 7 p.m., and conclude the first tournament of the season Saturday against Little Rock at 2:30 p.m. SMU will also host a championship ring ceremony following Saturday's match in the Miller Event Center.