Giordano leads volleyball to sweep of Connecticut

[PonyPride]

From SMUMustangs.com:

Giordano Leads SMU To Sweep Of Connecticut Sunday
Middle blocker had nine kills, nine blocks

Oct. 11, 2015

DALLAS (SMU) – The SMU volleyball team beat Connecticut 3-0 (25-13, 28-26, 25-23) in Moody Coliseum Sunday afternoon, winning its third straight match without dropping a set. Janelle Giordano scored nine kills with nine blocks in the win.

The Mustangs (15-3, 5-1 American Athletic Conference) held on for a 25-23 win in the third set to complete the sweep. With SMU leading 21-17, Connecticut (7-10, 1-5 The American) rallied to go on a 6-1 run, taking a 23-22 lead. SMU answered with a kill from Abbey Bybel and two straight blocks to end the match. Giordano had four kills and two blocks in the set.

Katie Hegarty led the Mustangs with 10 kills, and Kirsten Stehling nad nine, posting a match-high .533 attack percentage. Avery Ackerrecorded her 11th double-double of the season with 38 assists and 11 digs.

The Mustangs used a 6-0 run to take a 16-10 lead in the first set, and out-scored the Huskies 15-4 over the final 19 points to take a 25-13 victory. SMU took a 10-5 lead to start the set, but Connecticut scored four straight out of a timeout to get within one, 10-9, before the SMU run. Hegarty paced the offense with four kills, and Acker had assists on 13 of SMU’s 14 kills.

SMU came back from six points down to win the second set, 28-26, taking a 2-0 lead in the match. The Huskies took a 12-6 lead, and the advantage was still six, 17-11, before SMU rallied back to tie the score, 19-19. The Huskies rallied for the next four points, but the Mustangs again battled back. Connecticut had the first attempt at a set point, leading 24-22, but Hegarty and Giordano came up with a block, andLauren Mills served an ace to pull back even. Giordano and Bybel combined for a block on the next point, giving SMU its first lead since the first point of the set. Stehling and Brittany Adams scored back-to-back kills to give SMU the win.

The Mustangs play at UCF Friday at 7 p.m. ET/6 p.m. CT, and at USF Sunday at 1 p.m. ET/12 p.m. CT. SMU returns to Moody Coliseum Oct. 23 to host Cincinnati.

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

Awesome. Nice post.

[gostangs]

We own Connecticut