Volleyball finishes dominant weekend with sweep of Tulane

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From SMUMustangs.com:

SMU Finishes Off Dominant Weekend With Sweep Of Tulane

NEW ORLEANS (SMU)- The (RV) SMU volleyball team finished off the weekend with its second sweep of Tulane, a 3-0 (27-25, 25-10, 25-18) victory on Sunday afternoon at Devlin Fieldhouse.

SMU (21-6; 15-1 AAC) won its 11th straight match and earned its fifth consecutive sweep and 14th of the season. SMU held Tulane to a .028 hitting percentage marking the sixth time the Mustangs have held an opponent under .100 hitting this season. Four Mustangs recorded nine plus kills in a balanced offensive effort.

Naya Shime led the way, posting 11 kills while adding eight digs and two blocks. Emma Clothier tallied 10 kills on .350 hitting and added two digs and as many blocks. Celia Cullen posted her sixth double-double of the season with 26 assists and 13 digs. Sina Uluave led the Mustang defense with 14 digs and passed out four assists.

Alex Glover tallied five blocks, two digs, and a kill. Jamison Wheeler turned in nine kills, eight digs, two aces, and two blocks, and Natalie Perdue finished with nine kills, two digs, and two blocks. Casey Batenhorst dished out three assists and finished with an ace and a dig, while Brooke Frazier notched seven digs and added a pair of assists.

FROM THE TEAM:
"I am so proud of this team for battling all weekend long without dropping a set," defensive specialist Brooke Frazier said. "I can't wait to see what is next for this team."

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 kill from Cullen and two from Perdue and Clothier gave SMU a 5-1 lead. A 3-0 run from Tulane brought them within a point, but a pair of Green Wave errors and a solo block from Clothier gave SMU a 15-11 advantage at the media timeout. Tulane scored four unanswered out of the break to even the set at 15 apiece. The teams went back and forth until two straight kills from Wheeler and Glover put SMU up two. Both teams traded blows, and three unanswered from Tulane gave them a 25-24 lead. A kill from Wheeler, one from Perdue, and a Clothier and Wheeler block countered the Green Wave's run and sealed a 27-25 first set victory.

Set Two
The set started with the teams trading 3-0 runs. The teams went back and forth until kills from Clothier and Wheeler, along with a pair of Green Wave attack errors, sparked a 4-0 run that forced a Tulane timeout. A Batenhorst ace and kills from Wheeler and Shime put SMU on another run that forced Tulane to call a timeout, trailing by nine. Kills from Shime and Wheeler and a block with Glover, paired with a Tulane attack error, gave SMU four more and saw the Mustangs lead 21-8. SMU used a 4-0 to seal a dominating 25-10 set two victory.

Set Three
Neither team created separation early in the set. Three straight kills from Clothier, Wheeler, and Cullen gave SMU an 8-6 lead. Two consecutive kills from Shime and a Wheeler ace extended the Mustang lead to four. Shime recorded a kill and an ace out of the media timeout to give SMU a 17-12 lead. Another ace from Wheeler and two kills from Shime took SMU to 24, and a Green Wave service error gave SMU the 25-18 edge in the third set.

SMU LEADERS:
SMU Kills Leader: Naya Shime (11)
SMU Assist Leader: Celia Cullen (26)
SMU Digs Leader: Sina Uluave (14)
SMU Blocks Leader: Alex Glover (5)
SMU Ace Leader: Jamison Wheeler (2)

TEAM RECORDS SERIES NOTES:
With the win, SMU improved to 21-6 on the season, and 15-1 in conference.
Sunday was the 38th meeting between SMU and Tulane. SMU leads the all-time series 20-18.

TEAM NOTES:
SMU won its 11th consecutive conference match.
SMU picked up its 14th sweep of the season and fifth in a row.
SMU held Tulane to a .028 hitting percentage marking the sixth time the Mustangs have held an opponent under .100 hitting this season.
SMU is 15-0 when leading in kills.
SMU is 19-1 when leading in service aces.
SMU is 15-1 when leading in blocks.
SMU is 15-2 when leading in assists.
SMU is 15-1 when leading in digs.
SMU turned in a higher attacking percentage than its opponent for the 21st time this season.
Two Mustangs turned in 10+ kills for the eighth time this season and second consecutive match. Four turned in 5+ for the 20th time this season.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES:
Naya Shime led the Mustangs in kills (11) for the third time this season. Shime tallied double-digits for the 11th time this season. She added eight digs and two blocks.
Emma Clothier tallied 10 kills on .350 hitting. Clothier reached double-digits for the 14th time this season and added two digs and two blocks.
Sina Uluave led the Mustangs in digs with 14 for the 16th time this season and third consecutive match. Uluave reached double-digits for the 21st time this season and passed out four assists.
Celia Cullen posted her sixth double-double of the season (26 assists, 13 digs). The senior setter has led the Mustangs in every match this season. She added three digs and a kill.
Alex Glover tallied five blocks, marking the seventh time this season she's tallied five plus blocks. She added two digs and a kill.

UP NEXT:
SMU is back in action when it hosts North Texas in back-to-back matches on Friday and Saturday in Moody Coliseum.