SMU volleyball defeats Texas Tech in five-set thriller

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From SMUMustangs.com:

SMU volleyball defeats Texas Tech in five-set thriller

DALLAS (SMU)— The SMU volleyball team defeated Texas Tech 3-2 (25-11, 22-25, 21-25, 25-20,15-10) to kick off the Double Tree Invitational on Friday night in Moody Coliseum.

SMU is undefeated in Moody Coliseum. Four players registered 10 plus kills in a balanced offensive effort. Jamison Wheeler recorded her first double-double of the season. Wheeler led the Mustangs with a season-high 19 kills and a career-high 26 digs. Emma Clothier recorded 13 kills on .545 hitting. Naya Shime added 11 kills and Natalie Perdue reached double-digit kills (10) for the fifth consecutive match, while adding six digs.

Celia Cullen passed out 46 assists and added eight digs along with a career-high six blocks. Lauren Ohlinger added four kills and as many digs, while Sina Uluave notched 13 digs. Brooke Frazier tallied seven digs, and Hannah Whittingstall turned in a career-high six total blocks. Alex Glover added four kills.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Set One:
SMU jumped out to a 6-3 lead. A Whittingstall rejection put SMU up 9-3 and forced a Texas Tech timeout. The Mustangs' run continued out of the timeout, and Clothier's first kill extended the lead to 15-7. A block from Cullen and Whittingstall, followed by Shime and Wheeler kills, propelled SMU to three unanswered. The Mustangs used the separation to finish off Texas Tech 25-11.

Set Two:
Shime and Cullen's kills countered an early Red Raider lead and tied the match at four apiece. SMU took four out of five points to take an 8-6 lead. Texas Tech tied it up at eight, but the Mustangs scored back-to-back points to regain the lead. A 6-0 run from the Red Raiders forced a Mustang timeout. SMU rattled off four straight after the pause to tie the match at 15. The teams traded blows, but a Whittingstall and Cullen block put SMU up 20-19. Texas Tech scored back-to-back points, forcing another SMU timeout. The Red Raiders took the second set 25-22.

Set Three:
A Perdue kill got the Mustangs going to start the third set. The teams went back and forth early in the set. After SMU took a one-point advantage, Texas Tech countered with five unanswered to take a 12-8 lead. SMU countered by taking three out of four points to narrow the gap. Kills from Perdue and Clothier brought SMU within one, but Texas Tech closed out the second set 25-21.

Set Four:
Kills from Shime and Wheeler gave SMU an early 7-5 lead. With Texas Tech leading 8-7, SMU rattled off eight unanswered, starting with a 4-0 run that propelled SMU to a 12-9 lead. The Mustangs' run continued out of the timeout with kills from Cullen, Ohlinger and Clothier. SMU controlled the set the rest of the way and closed out the Red Raiders 25-20.

Set Five:
SMU jumped to an early 3-1 lead in the fifth set. A Wheeler kill propelled the Mustangs to three straight to extend their lead to 5-2. A pair of Wheeler kills and one from Shime put the Mustangs up 8-4. Three straight brought the Red Raiders within a point, but the Mustangs withstood the run, and fired back three points of their own to lead 11-7. A Clothier kill put the Mustangs up 13-10, and another one from the graduate student finished off Texas Tech 15-10.

SMU LEADERS
SMU Kills Leader: Jamison Wheeler (19)
SMU Assist Leader: Celia Cullen (46)
SMU Digs Leader: Jamison Wheeler (26)
SMU Blocks Leader: Hannah Whittingstall/Celia Cullen (6)
SMU Ace Leader: Brooke Frazier (3)

TEAM RECORDS SERIES NOTES
With the win, SMU moved to 4-5 on the season.
SMU is undefeated in Moody Coliseum. The Mustangs picked up the highest ranked victory in program history when it defeated then-No. 14 Baylor 3-2 on Sept. 6.
Friday was the 12th meeting between SMU and Texas Tech. Friday's win broke a four match losing streak against the Red Raiders.

TEAM NOTES
SMU posted a season team-high in kills (64) and tied its season-high in blocks (12). The last time SMU recorded 60+ kills in a match was vs. Wichita State on 11/23/22.
Four different Mustangs recorded 10+ kills for the first time this season.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES
Jamison Wheeler recorded her first double-double of the season. She led the Mustangs with a season-high in kills (19) and a career-high in digs (26). The last time a Mustang had 20 plus digs was vs. Wichita State on 11/23/22.
Natalie Perdue recorded double-digit kills (10 ) for the fifth consecutive match and sixth time this season.
Emma Clothier recorded 13 kills on .545 hitting. This marked the fourth time this season the graduate student reached double-digits.
Celia Cullen has led the Mustangs in assists in all nine matches this season. The senior setter passed out 46 and added a career-high six blocks against Texas Tech.
Hannah Whittingstall turned in a career-high six blocks.
Brooke Frazier led the Mustangs in service aces after recording a career-high of three.
Sina Uluave recorded double-digit digs (13) for the fifth time this season.
Naya Shime added double-digit kills (11) for the fifth time in 2023.

UP NEXT
SMU is back in action on Saturday against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at 12 p.m.