Volleyball sweeps UAB for seventh straight victory

[PonyPride]

From SMUMustangs.com:

SMU Sweeps UAB To Earn Seventh Straight Victory

DALLAS (SMU)- The SMU volleyball team opened the weekend with a 3-0 (25-16, 25-14, 25-18) sweep of UAB on Friday night in Moody Coliseum.

SMU (17-6; 11-1 overall) picked up its 10th sweep of the year and seventh straight victory. The Mustangs defense shined, holding the Blazers to a .043 hitting percentage. Four different Mustangs turned in five plus kills in a balanced offensive effort.

Emma Clothier and Natalie Perdue led the Mustang attack. Clothier posted eight kills on .467 hitting, while adding three digs, two blocks and as many aces. Perdue posted eight kills and seven digs. Lauren Ohlinger turned in five kills and an assist, while Naya Shime tallied five kills along with three digs and a block.

Jamison Wheeler finished with four kills, eight digs and a pair of blocks. Freshmen Evan Glade and Hannah Whittingstall each turned in two kills. Whittingstall added a pair of blocks. Celia Cullen passed out 21 assists, and recorded three digs, two blocks and a kill. Casey Batenhorst dished out seven assists, while adding three digs and Brooke Frazier notched four digs and added an assist. Sina Uluave finished with eight digs.

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. SMU jumped out to an early 4-1 lead. A Clothier service ace and block with Wheeler, along with a kill, propelled the Mustangs to a 5-0 run to extend their lead to 9-2 and force a UAB timeout. Back-to-back kills from Perdue extended SMU's lead to nine. An attack error, an ace from Frazier, and a Perdue kill put the Mustangs in front 18-7 and forced the Blazers to burn their final timeout of the set. SMU created more separation, and two straight kills from Shime and Glade finished off the Blazers 25-16 in the first frame.

Set Two:
SMU jumped out to an early three point lead. The Blazers battled back, but a kill from Wheeler, one from Clothier, and an assisted block with Cullen led SMU to five out of the following six points, giving the Mustangs a 15-10 lead at the media timeout. Clothier's second ace, a kill from Whittingstall, and a Blazer attack error kept the run going and forced a UAB timeout. The momentum continued out of the pause, and a kill by Clothier and a Blazer attack error sealed a 25-14 victory.

Set Three:
The teams went back-and-forth early in the third set, but an ace from Uluave, a kill from Clothier, and a pair of Blazer errors put SMU up 12-7 and forced a UAB timeout. Two kills from Perdue and one from Cullen kept the run out of the pause. Two kills from Shime and one from Ohlinger gave SMU a 24-16 lead, and Clothier's eighth kill of the match finished off UAB 25-18.

SMU LEADERS:
SMU Kills Leader: Emma Clothier/Natalie Perdue (8)
SMU Assist Leader: Celia Cullen (21)
SMU Digs Leader: Jamison Wheeler/Sina Uluave (8)
SMU Blocks Leader: Four with two
SMU Ace Leader: Emma Clothier (2)

TEAM RECORDS SERIES NOTES:
With the win, SMU improved to 17-6 on the season, and 11-1 in conference.
Friday was the 12th meeting between SMU and UAB. SMU leads the all-time series 9-3.
TEAM NOTES:
With the win, SMU tied the second-best start to conference play in program history. The Mustangs started 11-1 in 2016 and 16-1 in 2015.
SMU won its seventh consecutive match.
SMU held an opponent to a below .100 hitting percentage for the fourth time this season.
SMU is 9-1 in Moody Coliseum.
SMU is 12-0 when leading in kills.
SMU is 12-1 when leading in blocks.
SMU is 12-2 when leading in assists.
SMU is 11-1 when leading in digs.
UP NEXT:
SMU finishes off the weekend hosting USF Sunday at 3 p.m. in Moody Coliseum.

[Charleston Pony]

Nice to see how much this program has improved. Having Clothier return to finish her career back home has been huge!

[Terry Webster]

8 straight with another sweep today.