Giordano's Career Highs Leads Volleyball To Win At UCF

[PonyPride]

From SMUMustangs.com:

Giordano's Career Highs Lead Mustangs To Five-Set Win At UCF Friday
SMU won last two sets for comeback victory over Knights

Oct. 16, 2015

ORLANDO, Fla. (SMU) – The SMU volleyball team took sole possession of first place in the American Athletic Conference with a five-set comeback win at UCF in The Venue at UCF Friday night, improving to 16-3 overall, 6-1 in The American.

SMU won the last two sets, taking the fifth with a 15-6 victory, hitting .500 with nine kills and holding UCF (9-10, 3-4 The American) to only three kills. Leading 5-4, the Mustangs went on an 8-1 run, with Morgan Heise serving six straight times.

Janelle Giordano scored a career-high 15 kills, and matched her career-high with 13 blocks, to lead the Mustangs, hitting .500 in the match.Abbey Bybel recorded 14 kills, Katie Hegarty and Cailin Bula each added 12, and Kristen Stehling finished with 11, giving SMU five attackers with at least 10 kills. SMU hit .280 as a team, out-scoring UCF 69-65 off the attack.

Heise tallied 24 of SMU’s 71 digs, and the Mustangs posted 16 blocks as a team, holding the Knights to a .156 attack percentage. Jale Hervey led the Knights with 20 kills. Avery Acker recorded her 12th double-double of the season with 60 assists and 12 digs. Bula also recorded 10 digs for her first double-double of the season.

The Mustangs trailed 24-21 in the fourth, but scored three straight to tie the score, 24-24, and pulled off another 3-0 rally to complete the comeback, winning 28-26 to force a fifth set. UCF pushed its lead to five, 18-13, but the Mustangs cut the lead to two, 20-18. The Knights pushed it back to four once more, 22-18, before the Mustangs mounted the comeback to force a fifth set. SMU had six blocks in the set, and Heise had 10 digs, holding UCF to a .117 attack percentage.

UCF won the third set 25-22 to take a 2-1 lead in the match. The Knights scored the first four points unanswered, but SMU rallied for four straight of its own, tying the score. With the scored tied, 9-9, UCF went on another 4-0 run, taking a 13-9 lead. SMU battled, but was unable to get within two points the rest of the set.

SMU hit .256 with 15 kills in the first set, but the Knights hit .293 with 18 kills on their way to a 25-22 win and a 1-0 lead in the match. Hervey had nine kills in the set to lead UCF. The Knights scored four of the first five points, but SMU answered with a 4-1 run of its own to tie the score, 5-5. The score remained close, with 12 ties and four lead changes, and was still at 22-22. The Knights scored the last three points in a row for the win.

Despite starting the second set in an 0-2 hole due to a pair of red cards handed out between sets, the Mustangs bounced back to even the match with a decisive 25-18 victory. SMU hit .577 in the second set with 17 kills, while holding the Knights to just 10 kills and a .174 attack percentage. The Mustangs quickly erased the early advantage given to UCF, scoring three straight after the Knights scored on the first serve of the set, tying the score, 3-3. Leading by one, 15-14, SMU went on a 6-1 run for a 21-15 lead. The Knights managed just three more points as SMU earned the win, 25-18.

SMU plays at USF Sunday at 1 p.m. ET/12 p.m. CT, concluding the two-match road trip in Florida. The Mustangs return home to host Cincinnati and Memphis in Moody Coliseum Friday and Sunday.

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

Janelle is such a stud.

Nice win tonight. Beat USF!