Stellar defense leads volleyball past Tulsa, 3-1

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From SMUMustangs.com:

SMU Defeats Tulsa, 3-1, With Stellar Defense
Heise recorded 29 digs to best league-leader Berryhill

DALLAS (SMU) – Katie Hegarty scored 19 kills, andKristen Stehling finished with 10, to lead the SMU volleyball team to a 3-1 win (25-18, 25-23, 16-25, 25-15) against Tulsa in Moody Coliseum Wednesday night. The matchup feature the league's top two liberos, with back-to-back conference Libero of the Year Morgan Heise posting 29 digs to best league-leader Brooke Berryhill, who finished with 20 digs to lead Tulsa.

SMU (13-6, 6-1 American Athletic Conference) won the fourth set 25-15 to clinch the victory. Tulsa scored five of the first six points, but SMU answered with a 6-1 run, taking a 7-6 lead. The Golden Hurricane (13-6, 2-5 The American) recaptured the lead, but SMU took a 12-11 lead in the middle of a 7-1 run and never trailed again. Heise had nine digs in the final set, tallying 20 in the first and fourth sets combined.

Stehling hit .304, leading all attackers who had at least 10 attempts, and also posted four blocks. Janelle Giordanorecorded seven blocks with seven kills. Freshman Kendall Patterson recorded her seventh double-double with 40 assists and a career-high 16 digs, leading SMU to a .245 attack percentage. SMU finished with 11.0 total blocks as a team, holding Tulsa to a .178 attack percentage. Freshman Montana Watts finished with 12 digs, reaching double figures for the fourth time in the last seven matches.

Tulsa hit .310 in the third set to take a 25-16 win and avoid the sweep. The Golden Hurricane scored 12 kills and forced SMU into nine attack errors, including four blocks, for the set victory. SMU never led in the set, hitting .027, its lowest attack percentage of the match.

The SMU defense recorded 19 digs and four blocks, holding Tulsa to a .049 attack percentage en route to a 25-18 win in the first set. The Mustangs trailed 4-2, but a 6-2 run gave the home team an 8-6 lead it wouldn't relinquish. After Tulsa cut the deficit to one, SMU went on a 5-2 rally to take a 13-9 lead. The Mustangs gradually increased the lead as the set went on, getting to a six-point advantage, 18-12, and took their largest lead, seven points, at 22-15. Giordano had three blocks in the set, and Heise tallied five digs, beating Brooke Berryhill, the league leader, by two.

Patterson scored an ace to cap off a 9-4 run, giving SMU a 23-22 lead, its first since the score was 12-11. The Mustangs finished off the comeback, scoring consecutive points after a Tulsa kill to win the second set 25-23. Hegarty scored six points in the set to lead the SMU offense, including two of SMU's last five points. Heise recorded 11 of SMU's 26 digs in the set.

SMU plays at Memphis Friday night at 7 p.m. The match is the first of three straight road contests for the Mustangs, who play two matches in Florida next weekend.