No. 10 volleyball tops N.C. State in 5 for 7th straight win

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From SMUMustangs.com:

No. 10 Mustangs Win Seventh Straight, Edge NC State In Five

DALLAS (SMU) – No. 10 SMU volleyball won their seventh straight match Friday night in a five-set win over NC State (14-11, 9-8 ACC) with set scores of 16-25, 28-26, 25-15, 19-25, and 15-9. The Mustangs improved to 22-6 overall and 14-3 in ACC play this year.

The Mustangs were led by Maya Tabron, who went for a team-high of 15 kills and 10 digs. Natalie Foster closely followed with a season-high 14 kills while hitting .500 against the Wolfpack.

Celia Cullen finished the match with 37 kills and nine digs. Nnedi Okammor and Foster each collected six blocks in the win. SMU hit .193 in the match with 12 blocks and 50 digs.

MATCH NOTES:
Seven straight wins tie the longest win streak of the season.
Tabron had 10+ kills for the 18th match this season and 10+ digs for the 14th time.
Tabron earned her 11th double-double of the season.
With seven digs against the Wolfpack, Ellie Bolton is one dig away from 1,000 for her career.
The Mustangs collected their 10th road win of the year, improving to 10-2.
With the win, SMU evened the all-time series with the Wolfpack 2-2.
SMU is now 3-2 in five-set matches this season, 3-0 in ACC play.
The Mustangs improved to 9-0 in win holding their opponents to under .200 hitting.
IT HAPPENED:
SET ONE | The Wolfpack started the match with four straight points before kills from Wheeler and Tabron put the Mustangs on the board. NC State pushed their lead to five (11-6) before a four-nothing run for SMU cut their deficit to two at 12-10. The Wolfpack extended their lead back out to five a few rallies later with a 3-0 run ending on an ace, forcing SMU into a timeout to regroup. Out of the timeout, NC State strung together three more to stretch their lead to eight, their largest edge so far in the match. SMU was unable to get anything going down the stretch as the Wolfpack closed out the set with six of the final ten taking a 1-0 lead in the match.

SET TWO | NC State started the second stretch strong, going up 4-0 like the first. SMU collected four of the next five, cutting their deficit to two (6-4). The Wolfpack expanded their lead back to four before a 3-0 run by the Mustangs after the 15-point media timeout to chop their deficit to one. SMU then tied the match at 20-all on an ace from Jamison Wheeler. After two straight from NC State, the Mustangs collected three of the next four to retie the set at 23-23. A missed serve by SMU gave the Wolfpack set point, but a kill from Tabron and then an attack error by NC State gave SMU their first match point. The Wolfpack responded with two straight of their own to give them their second set point. SMU then rallied off three straight, including a kill from Okammor and two attack errors by the Wolfpack to even the match at one set each. Tabron went off the second frame with eight kills while hitting .400. Foster also added five kills in the second set.

SET THREE | After two points by the Wolfpack to open the third set, SMU went on a 5-0 run to jump in front. SMU later stretched their lead to five with three straight, including two attack errors by NC State and an ace from Brooke Frazier. SMU stretched their lead to as much as 10 in the frame, putting together their best set of the match, hitting .348 with kills coming from five different Mustangs, but led by Shime with three. The Mustangs won the set 25-15 to take a 2-1 lead in the match. They also held NC State to .031 hitting, their lowest percentage in any of the five sets.

SET FOUR | The clubs traded runs of two to open the fourth set as SMU led 4-2. That trend would continue as each team made many runs. There were nine ties and three lead changes in the frame. Tied 15-15 midway through the set, NC State went on a 5-1 run to take their largest lead of the frame (20-16). Two kills from Foster got the Mustangs within three, but a 3-0 run, including two aces, put the Wolfpack at set point. A kill from Tabron stopped the run, but NC State followed with a kill of their own to win the fourth frame 25-19 and force a deciding fifth set.

SET FIVE | SMU started the fifth set firing, collecting the first four points before two straight from the Wolfpack chopped their early lead in half. The Mustangs extended their lead to five (8-3) with three straight thanks to two NC State attack errors and a Naya Shime ace. After a kill from the Wolfpack to stop the bleeding, a kill from Okammor, followed by another attack error by NC State, gave SMU a 10-4 lead and forced the Wolfpack into taking a timeout to talk things over. An NC State kill followed by an attack error by the Wolfpack and a kill from Wheeler extended the Mustangs' lead to seven. NC State did not go away quietly, going on a 4-0 run, which got the crowd back into it, as the Wolfpack were only down three. However, SMU was not fazed, ending the match with three straight on back-to-back kills from Wheeler and an ace from Cullen to give SMU a 15-9 win in set five. Wheeler led the Mustangs with three kills. SMU also had five of their 12 blocks of the match in the fifth set.

SMU LEADERS:
SMU Kills Leader: Maya Tabron (15)
SMU Assist Leader: Celia Cullen (37)
SMU Digs Leader: Maya Tabron (10)
SMU Blocks Leader: Natalie Foster/Nnedi Okammor (6)
SMU Ace Leader: Jamison Wheeler (3)

UP NEXT:
SMU Volleyball will next battle Wake Forest on Sunday, Nov. 24, in Winston Salem at 11 a.m. CT, airing on ACCNX.