Bula's career-high 20 kills lift volleyball over Tulsa, 3-1

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From SMUMustangs.com:

Bula Scores Career-High 20 Kills In 3-1 Win Against Tulsa
Mustangs host East Carolina Friday at 7 p.m.

Sept. 30, 2015

DALLAS (SMU) – Cailin Bula scored a career-high 20 kills to lead the SMU volleyball team to a 3-1 victory (23-25, 25-17, 25-13, 25-19) in Moody Coliseum Wednesday night. The senior hit .362 with three errors, eclipsing her previous career high of 19 kills against Temple last season.

The Mustangs (12-3, 2-1 American Athletic Conference) ended the match with a 25-19 win in the fourth set. Tulsa (6-9, 1-2 The American) took an early lead in the set, but SMU went on a 10-5 run to take a 13-10 lead. The Mustangs pushed the lead to five, 19-14, and kept the sizeable advantage down the stretch. It was Bula who scored the final kill, setting her career high and ending the match.

Avery Acker posted her ninth double-double with 57 assists and 20 digs. Morgan Heise had a match-high 21 digs. Katie Hegarty scored 13 kills, and Janelle Giordano finished with 11 kills and six blocks. Abbey Bybel recorded her seventh double-double with 10 kills, giving SMU four players with at least 10, and 12 digs. Kristen Stehling finished with eight kills and six blocks.

The Mustangs took control of the match with a dominating 25-13 win in the third set. SMU scored nine of the first 10 points, and led by as many as 13 in the set. Janelle Giordano scored five of SMU’s 16 kills, and the Mustangs hit .429 with just one error. Tulsa was held to 11 kills on a .077 attack percentage. Acker had 14 assists and nine digs in the third set.

SMU rallied back from a five-point deficit, 20-15, to tie the score at 23-23, but the Mustangs couldn’t capture the lead as Tulsa took the first set 25-23. The Golden Hurricane took a 6-2 lead to start the opening set, but SMU came back, scoring eight of the next 10 points to even the score, 10-10. The two teams traded points for the next 10 serves before Tulsa went on a 5-0 run. Bula had seven kills to lead the Mustangs, and Hegarty added six. Tulsa out-blocked the Mustangs 4-0 to make the difference and take the set.

The Mustangs responded in the second with a 25-17 victory to even the match. SMU took an early lead, 7-4, and held a four-point lead, 12-8, before Tulsa charged back, scoring six of the next seven to take a 14-8 lead. The Mustangs scored the next three to recapture the lead, and never trailed again. SMU scored the last seven points unanswered for the win. SMU held Tulsa to a -.059 attack percentage, posting eight blocks, five by Stehling, and Heise recorded six digs in the set.

SMU hit .297 as a team with 64 kills, while holding Tulsa to 47 kills on a .137 attack percentage. The Mustangs play their second of four straight home matches Friday against East Carolina at 7 p.m.