Volleyball knocks off UTRGV, Arizona State

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From SMUMustangs.com:

SMU Closes Road Trip With Two Wins

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LUBBOCK, Texas – SMU completed its non-conference schedule with victories over UTRGV and Arizona State at United Supermarkets Arena Friday.

After rallying from two sets down to defeat Arizona State (25-27, 23-25, 25-14, 25-18, 17-15) in the early session of the Red Raider Classic, the Mustangs snapped the Vaqueros 11-match winning streak, with a 3-1 (25-23, 18-25, 25-16, 25-21) result.

With the pair of triumphs, the Mustangs improved to 7-5 on the season, while the Sun Devils dropped to 5-6 and UTRGV fell to 11-2.

Facing the first 0-2 deficit of the season, SMU responded after intermission and dominated Arizona State in the third game. A kill by London Austin-Roark and a pair of attack errors netted the Mustangs an early 3-0 gap, expanding to 12-6 and forcing a timeout from the Sun Devils. They spent their final stoppage of the game, trailing 18-12 but it failed to slow down the SMU offense. Leading by eight, the Mustangs sandwiched a miscue by Arizona State with a pair of blocks. Jamison Wheeler and Austin-Roark teamed up for the first, before Austin-Roark and Marieke van der Mark closed out the game.

In the fourth stanza, SMU gapped the opposition with a 7-2 spurt and maintained its advantage throughout and forced a fifth and deciding set. A 4-0 run by the Sun Devils sliced the deficit to 22-18 but the Mustangs answered with three in succession.

Each team responded from runs by the opposition in game five. Wheeler slammed home a winner to push the early gap to 5-1. Arizona State rebounded with a 6-1 spurt and grabbed its first lead of the game. Poised to complete the reverse sweep, Alex Glover nudged SMU to match point at 14-12. After staving off a pair of match points, Arizona State pushed the Mustangs to the brink, before a miscue by the Sun Devils evened the score at 15-all. A kill by Natalie Perdue sent Wheeler to the service line and needing one winner. Her serve clipped the tape at the top of the net and landed safely to the floor in front of several diving Arizona State players.

In the nightcap, Perdue delivered back-to-back kills after the media timeout, pushing SMU in front at 17-13. The Mustangs maintained an advantage and secured the 1-0 edge on a successful attack from Wheeler.

UTRGV steamrolled through set number two, recording runs of 6-0 and 5-0, evening the match at 1-1 as the teams went to intermission. The Vaqueros outhit SMU .375-.233 and held the Mustangs to 36% in side-out opportunities.

SMU forced eight errors, while surrendering only seven kills and held UTRGV to a -0.29 hitting percentage to move ahead 2-1. The Mustangs turned up the pressure on both ends of the court, converting 14 of their 30 swings, 75% (12 of 16) on side-out chances and four blocks.

Perdue broke a 17-all draw and put SMU up for good by scoring all four points for her side in a 4-1.
She slammed home back-to-back winners and answered a kill by the opposition with another successful attack before dropping in an ace.

A pair of points cut the UTRGV deficit to 21-20, van der Mark sandwich another ace – this time by Austin-Roark – with a pair of blasts off her left hand. Two rallies later, Jadyn Bauss secured the triumph with her eighth kill of the contest.

The Mustangs return to Moody Coliseum after the nine-match road trip Friday, Sept. 23. They open the American Athletic Conference slate against USF at 7 p.m.