Volleyball dominates USF in 3-0 sweep

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From SMUMustangs.com:

SMU Closes The Weekend With Dominating Victory Over USF

DALLAS (SMU)- The SMU volleyball team closed out the weekend earning its second straight sweep with a 3-0 (25-19, 25-17, 25-10) victory over South Florida on Sunday afternoon in Moody Coliseum.

SMU (18-6; 12-1 overall) turned in the third best team hitting percentage in program history (.444). The Mustangs picked up their 11th sweep of the year and eighth straight victory. SMU held the Bulls to .109 hitting on the afternoon.

Naya Shime finished with eight kills on .889 hitting, marking her highest career hitting percentage. Shime added six blocks a pair of digs. Emma Clothier led the Mustangs in kills with 10 on .600 hitting. The graduate middle blocker turned in six blocks.

Celia Cullen passed out 28 assists, while adding five digs, a block and one kill. Jamison Wheeler notched nine digs, and added seven kills and two blocks. Natalie Perdue posted seven kills, three digs and a block, while Alex Glover tallied two kills and four blocks.

Sina Uluave turned in seven digs and dished out two assists. Brooke Frazier tallied five digs and an assist and Lauren Ohlinger finished with five digs.

FROM THE TEAM:
"We want to focus on going one game at a time, and going 1-0 each game," senior outside hitter Naya Shime said. "We want to focus on being present, and our goal is to keep our winning streak going. We knew South Florida was a good team offensively, and we wanted to match that and do even more to get the win."

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. Both teams battled back and forth early. A kill and service ace from Wheeler, along with a USF attack error, prompted three unanswered to give the Mustangs a 7-4 lead. Kills from Perdue and Clothier, along with three Clothier/Shime blocks, propelled SMU on a 5-0 run to lead 12-5 and force a USF timeout. Leading 17-9, SMU took four out of five to extend its lead to 10. The Bulls made a late push with a 6-0 run to cut the SMU lead to five, but Clothier's fourth kill of the match sealed a 25-19 victory.

Set Two
Neither team created separation as they battled to six apiece to start the set. SMU used several runs to gain and maintain its lead, beginning with two USF errors and a Wheeler ace that rattled off three straight and forced a USF timeout. Clothier and Wheeler each tallied a kill and then recorded a block to spark another 3-0 run that put SMU in front 15-10. A pair of kills from Shime and one from Perdue and Clothier gave SMU four unanswered, and another Perdue kill finished off the Bulls 25-17.

Set Three
SMU's momentum rolled into set three. A kill from Clothier and one from Wheeler, along with a USF attack error, propelled SMU out to an early 5-2 lead. Two more kills from Wheeler and one from Glover rattled off three more. Back-to-back kills from Shime and Perdue gave SMU a 14-7 lead and forced the Bulls to burn a timeout. Kills from Wheeler, Clothier, Glover, and Cullen, and an assisted block from Wheeler and Glover delivered six unanswered to put the Mustangs up 22-9. A Batenhorst ace and a block from Shime and Glover finished a dominating 25-10 set three victory.

SMU LEADERS
SMU Kills Leader: Emma Clothier (10)
SMU Assist Leader: Celia Cullen (28)
SMU Digs Leader: Jamison Wheeler (9)
SMU Blocks Leader: Emma Clothier/Naya Shime (6)
SMU Ace Leader: Casey Batenhorst/Jamison Wheeler (2)

TEAM RECORDS SERIES NOTES
With the win, SMU improved to 18-6 on the season, and 12-1 in conference.
Sunday was the 18th meeting between SMU and USF. SMU leads the all-time series 14-4.

TEAM NOTES
With the win, SMU earned 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 eighth consecutive match.
SMU is 10-1 in Moody Coliseum. The Mustangs have won four straight in Dallas.
SMU is 17-1 when leading in service aces.
SMU is 13-1 when leading in blocks.
SMU is 12-1 when leading in digs.
SMU turned in the third best hitting percentage in program history (.444).
596 Jackson State Sept. 9, 2000 33-2-52
.471 Quinnipiac Aug. 30, 2013 41-9-68
.444 South Florida Oct. 28, 2023 35-3-72
.429 East Carolina Oct. 2, 2015 49-7-98
.427 Caroleston Southern Aug. 24, 2012 44-12-75

INDIVIDUAL NOTES
Emma Clothier led the Mustangs in kills (10) on .600 hitting for the second consecutive match and fifth time this season. The graduate middle blocker turned in six blocks, marking the ninth time this season she's turned in five plus blocks. Clothier has tallied at least eight kills on .300 or better hitting in 19 out of 24 matches this season.
Naya Shime finished with eight kills on .889 hitting, marking her highest career hitting percentage. Shime added six blocks to make it the third time she's eclipsed five plus blocks in a match this year.
Celia Cullen led the Mustangs in assists (28), while adding five digs, a block and one kill. Cullen has led the Mustangs in assists in every match this season.
Jamison Wheeler led the Mustangs in digs with nine for the third time this season. She added seven kills and a pair of blocks.

UP NEXT
SMU hits the road to face East Carolina on Friday at 5 p.m. CT.