Volleyball sweeps UTSA

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From SMUMustangs.com:

SMU Sweeps UTSA In Final Match Of The Weekend

SAN ANTONIO (SMU)- The (RV) SMU volleyball team picked up a 3-0 (25-19, 25-16, 30-28) road sweep of UTSA on Sunday afternoon in the Convocation Center.

SMU (9-5; 3-0 American Athletic Conference) picked up its fifth sweep of the season and sixth straight victory. Three SMU players registered 10 plus kills, and four Mustangs turned in at least five kills in a balanced offensive effort. SMU held the Roadrunners to .137 hitting on the afternoon.

Emma Clothier finished with 13 kills on .500 hitting. The graduate middle blocker has turned in five .500 or better hitting performances this season. Clothier added five blocks. Jamison Wheeler recorded 13 kills and nine digs. Natalie Perdue shined, tallying 11 kills, nine digs, and tying her career-high in blocks with five.

Celia Cullen passed out 38 assists and added eight digs. Sina Uluave recorded 13 digs and Brooke Frazier tallied nine. Naya Shime added seven kills, while Hannah Whittingstall turned in three kills and a pair of blocks. Alex Glover finished with two kills and as many blocks.

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. A service error from UTSA, a service ace from Uluave and a block from Perdue and Clothier gave SMU an early lead. UTSA climbed back and took a 14-13 lead midway through the set. Back-to-back kills from Clothier put SMU in front by one and forced a UTSA timeout. SMU used kills from Perdue, Glover, and two from Wheeler, along with her service ace to take eight out of the final 10 points of the set and pick up a 25-19 victory.

Set Two:
Back-to-back kills from Glover and Perdue and Wheeler's second service ace of the match helped SMU jump out to another early lead. The Mustang run would continue until UTSA called its first timeout of the set, trailing 8-1. Back-to-back kills from Perdue and a pair of blocks from Perdue and Clothier countered four unanswered from the Roadrunners and kept SMU in front 21-13. SMU used three straight capped off by a Whittingstall kill to win set two 25-16.

Set Three:
Six straight from SMU erased UTSA's early lead and put the Mustangs ahead 7-4. Six unanswered from the Roadrunners gave UTSA a 16-14 lead and forced an SMU timeout. A block from Whittingstall and Perdue halted the UTSA run. Back-to-back Wheeler kills put her in double-digits and regained SMU the lead. A block from Cullen and Clothier grew the lead to 20-18. The rest of the set would see several ties and lead changes. SMU extended its lead to two on three occasions, but the Roadrunners countered with two points of their own to even the set for the third time at 24-24. With the set knotted at 28, kills from Clothier and Wheeler helped SMU prevail to a 30-28 win.

SMU LEADERS
SMU Kills Leader: Emma Clothier/Jamison Wheeler (13)
SMU Assist Leader: Celia Cullen (38)
SMU Digs Leader: Sina Uluave (13)
SMU Blocks Leader: Emma Clothier/Natalie Perdue (5)
SMU Ace Leader: Jamison Wheeler (2)

FROM THE TEAM
"I think this was a great start to road conference play for us," Middle Blocker Emma Clothier said. "We ended up winning both games in a tough environment. We did a good job executing and staying focused, but we also know what we need to work on going into next week when we take on Wichita State."

TEAM RECORDS SERIES NOTES
With the win, SMU improved to 9-5 on the season, and 3-0 in conference play.
Wednesday was the 16th meeting between SMU and UTSA. SMU leads the all-time series 13-4.

TEAM NOTES
Three Mustangs tallied 10+ kills for the fourth time this season.
Four Mustangs recorded 5+ kills for the ninth time this season.
SMU is on a six match win streak.
SMU is 6-0 when leading in kills.
SMU is 5-1 in three set matches.
SMU is 5-1 when leading in digs.
SMU is 9-1 when leading in attack percentage.
SMU is 8-2 when leading in service aces.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES
Emma Clothier tallied 13 kills on .500 hitting. Clothier tallied at least 12 kills on .500 or better hitting for the fifth time this season. The graduate middle blocker added five blocks for the second straight match and fifth time this season.
Jamison Wheeler tallied 13 kills and nine digs. Wheeler posted double-digit kills for the second consecutive match and seventh time this season.
Natalie Perdue turned in 11 kills, nine digs, and tied her career-high with five blocks. Perdue tallied double-digits kills for the seventh time this season.
Celia Cullen passed out 38 assists and added eight digs. Cullen has led the Mustangs in assists in all 14 matches this season.
Sina Uluave recorded double-digit digs (13) for the 10th time this season.

UP NEXT
SMU is back in action against Wichita State Friday at 7 p.m. in Moody Coliseum.