Volleyball sweeps Memphis in AAC opener

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From SMUMustangs.com:

SMU Sweeps Memphis In Conference Opener

DALLAS (SMU)— Graduate middle blocker Emma Clothier hit .800 with 12 kills to lead the (RV) SMU volleyball team to a 3-0 (25-20, 25-10, 25-14) sweep of Memphis to open American Athletic Conference play Wednesday afternoon in Moody Coliseum.

SMU hit .396 as a team, marking the ninth-highest team-hitting percentage in program history. The Mustangs are 5-0 in Moody Coliseum. The sweep marked the fourth of the season and the second straight.

SMU held Memphis to a .070 hitting percentage. The Mustangs held an opponent under a .100 hitting percentage for the second time this season. Two SMU players registered 10 plus kills, and four Mustangs turned in at least five kills in a balanced offensive effort.

Naya Shime shined in the conference opener, tallying 10 kills on .316 hitting, while adding seven digs and four blocks. Jamison Wheeler added nine kills and six digs, while Natalie Perdue posted eight kills, four digs, and a pair of blocks. Alex Glover added three kills and four blocks. Celia Cullen dished out 33 assists and recorded five digs, while libero Sina Uluave finished with 11 and two assists.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Set One:
Starting the match for SMU were Jamison Wheeler, Natalie Perdue, Emma Clothier, Alex Glover, Naya Shime, Celia Cullen, and Sina Uluave. The first few points of the set went back and forth between the two teams. A kill from Alex Glover put SMU up 7-5. The Mustangs maintained their slight advantage and led 15-13 at the first set media timeout. SMU took five out of six points to take a 19-14 lead. A kill from Wheeler earned SMU its 20th point of the set. Back-to-back kills from Glover and Shime extended SMU's lead to 23-18. Clothier's seventh kill of the set on .778 hitting clinched the set for SMU.

Set Two:
SMU dominated the second frame coast to coast. Four unanswered helped the Mustangs jump to a 5-1 lead early in set two. A pair of kills followed by a service ace from Clothier put SMU up 9-3 and forced a Memphis timeout. Five unanswered capped off by a Perdue kill forced the Tigers to burn their third timeout of the set down 16-5. SMU took five out of the set's final six points, highlighted by three kills from Wheeler that helped finish off the Tigers 25-10.

Set Three:
SMU's momentum carried over to the third set. A pair of Clothier kills, a Shime kill and service ace, and a Perdue kill and assisted block with Clothier helped the Mustangs jump out to an 8-0 lead in the third set. Three unanswered forced a Memphis timeout with SMU leading 13-4. The Mustangs continued their roll out of the timeout, finishing the match off with a dominating 25-14 victory.

SMU LEADERS
SMU Kills Leader: Emma Clothier (12)
SMU Assist Leader: Celia Cullen (33)
SMU Digs Leader: Sina Uluave (11)
SMU Blocks Leader: Naya Shime/Alex Glover (4)
SMU Ace Leader: Naya Shime/Emma Clothier (1)

FROM THE COACHES
"It was a great way to open up conference play," Assistant Coach Clayton Bristow said. "We came out extremely clean both offensively and defensively, and were firing on all cylinders. We played disciplined, SMU volleyball, and sided out a very high percentage. Emma hit for over an .800 clip and 10+ kills, and had herself a day."

TEAM RECORDS SERIES NOTES
With the win, SMU moved to 7-5 on the season.
SMU is undefeated (5-0) in Moody Coliseum. SMU picked up its highest ranked win in program history when it defeated then-No. 14 Baylor 3-2 on Sept. 6. The Mustangs won three straight matches against Texas Tech, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and LSU at the SMU DoubleTree Invitational.
Wednesday was the 28th meeting between SMU and Memphis. SMU leads the all-time series 21-7.

TEAM NOTES
SMU hit .396 as a team, marking the ninth-highest team-hitting percentage in program history. The last time the Mustangs had an attacking percentage of .380 or better was at Cincinnati (.381) on 9/30/2022.
The Mustangs are 5-0 in Moody Coliseum. The sweep marked the fourth of the season and the second straight.
SMU held Memphis to a .070 hitting percentage. The Mustangs held an opponent under a .100 hitting percentage for the second time this season and first since 8/25/23, when SMU held Lipscomb under .100 hitting.
Two SMU players registered 10 plus kills for the sixth time this season.
Four Mustangs turned 5+ kills for the eighth time this season.
SMU is 4-0 when leading in kills.
SMU is 7-1 when leading in attacking percentage.
SMU is 5-1 when leading in blocks.
SMU is 6-2 when leading in service aces.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES
Emma Clothier led the Mustangs in kills for the first time this season. The graduate middle blocker tallied 12 kills on .800 hitting. Clothier has tallied at least 12 kills on .500 or better hitting four times this season.
Naya Shime tallied double-digit kills (10) for the sixth time this season. She added seven digs and four blocks.
Celia Cullen dished out 33 assists against the Tigers. Cullen has led the Mustangs in assists in all 12 matches. The senior setter added five digs.
Sina Uluave led the Mustangs in digs (11) for the third time this season. The graduate student reached double-digits for the eighth time this season.

UP NEXT
SMU hits the road for back-to-back matches against UTSA on Saturday and Sunday in San Antonio, Texas.