Volleyball swept by Horns

[EastStang]

Great season, but beat by Texas in 2nd round.

[PonyPride]

From SMUMustangs.com:

SMU Falls To Texas In Second Round Of NCAA Tournament

AUSTIN, Texas (SMU) – The SMU volleyball team was eliminated in the second round of the NCAA Tournament with a 3-0 (25-16, 25-14, 25-17) loss to No. 2 seed Texas Saturday night in Gregory Gym. The Mustangs finish the season with a 26-7 record, and won the American Athletic Conference championship for the first time since 2016.

Naya Shime led the Mustangs in kills with 13. Shime tallied double-digit kills in six out of the final seven matches of the season. The senior outside hitter added nine digs, two blocks, and an ace. Emma Clothier tallied seven kills on .462 hitting and added two digs and a block.

Celia Cullen passed out a team-high 26 assists and finished with seven digs. Jamison Wheeler tallied five kills and three digs, and Natalie Perdue recorded four kills and two digs. Casey Batenhorst tied her career-high with three service aces. Sina Uluave finished with seven digs, and Alex Glover chipped in two blocks.

HOW IT HAPPENED:
Set One
Starting the match for SMU were Jamison Wheeler, Brooke Frazier, Emma Clothier, Alex Glover, Naya Shime, Casey Batenhorst and Sina Uluave. The first several points of the set went back and forth. Kills from Clothier and Shime and a service ace from Batenhorst gave SMU an early 7-6 lead. Texas countered with five unanswered to take an 11-7 lead and force an SMU timeout. Shime earned a solo block and tallied another kill to bring the Mustangs within three. Texas took five out of the following six points to extend its lead to seven. Two kills from Clothier, one from Wheeler, and an ace from Shime brought the Mustangs back within striking distance. Texas went on another 4-0 run to win the first set 25-16.

Set Two:
Perdue put down a kill to give the Mustangs the first point of the second frame. A kill from Shime and back-to-back aces from Batenhorst countered seven unanswered from the Longhorns. Perdue recorded her second kill of the set to bring the Mustangs within five. Clothier tallied a kill and an ace to spark three unanswered, but the Longhorns went on to win the second set 25-14.

Set Three:
The teams went back and forth to start the set. Wheeler's fourth kill of the match brought SMU back within two points early. Texas went on two 3-0 runs that created separation they used to win the third frame 25-17.

SMU LEADERS:
SMU Kills Leader: Naya Shime (13)
SMU Assist Leader: Celia Cullen (26)
SMU Digs Leader: Naya Shime (9)
SMU Blocks Leader: Alex Glover/Naya Shime (2)
SMU Ace Leader: Casey Batenhorst (3)

TEAM NOTES:
SMU finished the season with a 26-7 overall record.
SMU won the American Athletic Conference championship. The Mustangs finished league play with an 18-1 record and won the program's first conference title since 2016.
SMU finished the season with the best conference winning percentage in program history (.947). The Mustangs rode a 15-match win streak into the NCAA Tournament and entered as a No. 7 seed after seven straight sweeps.
Five members of the SMU volleyball team were named to the All-AAC teams. Emma Clothier was named the Player of the Year. Celia Cullen was crowned the Setter of the Year, and Sina Uluave was named the Libero of the Year. Jamison Wheeler was tabbed as an All-AAC First-Team Selection, and Natalie Perdue earned a spot on the Second-Team. Sam Erger was announced as the AAC Coach of the Year.
SMU swept Texas State on Thursday to finish the month of November without dropping a set.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES:
Naya Shime tallied double-digit kills (13) for the sixth time in the last seven matches. Shime reached double-digits for the 17th time this season. She added nine digs two blocks and an ace.
Celia Cullen passed out a team-high 26 assists. The senior setter has led the Mustangs in every match this season. She added seven digs.
Casey Batenhorst tied her career-high with three service aces.

[Terry Webster]

Texas hammered Nebraska for the title. Interesting, our scores were pretty similar.