Volleyball bounces back with win over Houston

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From SMUMustangs.com:

Mustangs Bounce Back with Win Over Houston

ston (3-4) in four with set scores of 25-12, 20-25, 25-17, 25-22 in the final match of the SMU Doubletree Invitational Saturday afternoon.

Four Mustangs had double-digit kills for the first time this season, led by Naya Shime, who tallied 18 kills with nine digs and four blocks. Maya Tabron finished the afternoon with 14 kills, hitting .303 with eight digs and three blocks.

Jamison Wheeler earned her second double-double of the season with 12 kills on .379 percent hitting and a team-high 14 digs. Natalie Foster finished the match with a season-high ten kills on 15 swings with seven blocks. Fellow middle blocker Nnedi Okammor logged a team-best eight blocks to go along with five kills. Celia Cullen, the catalyst for the balanced attack, distributed 43 assists, with ten digs and five blocks.

As a team, the Mustangs hit .338 with 59 kills. Houston finished the match with a .123 hitting percentage and 40 kills. SMU dominated the net with 15 blocks compared to just four for the Cougars.

MATCH NOTES:
SMU has only allowed their opponent to hit over .200 twice this season.
The Mustangs' 15-team blocks were the second most by the squad this season. SMU had 16 against Hawaii in the season opener.
Shime has logged double-figures in kills in each of the last three matches and seven of the teams nine games this season.
With Saturday's win, the Mustangs snapped a three-game losing skid to the Cougars.
SMU leads the overall series 26-21 and is 17-7 at home against Houston.
The match was SMU's last home game until Oct. 12, when they host Pittsburgh in their ACC home opener.
Saturday's match had an attendance of 1883, the second-biggest crowd for a home SMU Volleyball match in program history.

HOW IT HAPPENED:
SET ONE | SMU set the tone early in the opening set against the Cougars, jumping off to a 9-2 advantage. The Mustangs erupted for seven straight points after a 2-2 tie to open the match. Natalie Foster dominated the early portion of the set, with three kills during the sequence. SMU continued to pour it on with another dominant stretch of seven straight to go up 16-3 on the Cougars. Houston collected themselves down the stretch and showed some fight with a late five-point run to make it 23-11, but the first set was all SMU as the Mustangs closed out the opening set three points later to win the frame 25-12.

SET TWO | Houston put the Mustangs down early with a five-nothing run after the first point went SMU's way. The Mustangs were never able to regroup despite some small rallies midway through. Each time SMU closed the gap, the Cougars responded. A kill from Maya Tabron got the Mustangs to within three (20-17), but Houston managed to close out the set, outscoring SMU 5-3 to win 25-20. SMU had their lowest hitting percentage of the match in set two, hitting at just a .119 percent clip.

SET THREE | SMU got back on track in the third set, responding after Houston held an early advantage. After being down 11-9 in the third frame, SMU rallied off three-straight to take a short 12-11 lead. Another short Mustang run of four created more separation, capped off by an ace from Cullen. SMU was able to ride that momentum down the stretch, controlling the rest of the frame. Set three ended with three straight kills, one from Tabron and the other two from Wheeler, to take a 2-1 set lead.

SET FOUR | Houston retook an early advantage in set four, but SMU was able to weather the storm and eventually come out with the victory. The Cougars had an 8-4 lead, but SMU secured six of the next seven points that followed to take the 10-9 advantage. Houston would answer, followed by another run by the Mustangs, a trend that continued until the 19-19 mark, where SMU created some much-needed late separation, which proved to be the difference in the set. A kill from Okammor followed by a block from Okammor and Shime gave SMU a two-point edge 21-19. Houston then secured three of the next four points to tie the set back up at 22-all. Fortunately, the Mustangs closed out the set and ended the match on another kill from Okammor, followed by a block from Wheeler and Foster, and a Wheeler kill to cap off another win for the Mustangs.

SMU LEADERS:
SMU Kills Leader: Naya Shime (18)
SMU Assist Leader: Celia Cullen (43)
SMU Digs Leader: Jamison Wheeler (14)
SMU Blocks Leader: Nnedi Okammor (8)
SMU Ace Leader: Foster/Wheeler/Bolton (3)

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Eva Hudson - Purdue (MVP)
Chloe Chicoine - Purdue
Raven Colvin - Purdue
Megan Wilson - Kentucky
Erin Lamb - Kentucky
Naya Shime - SMU

UP NEXT:
SMU Volleyball will take on Northern Iowa for the first of two matchups over the weekend with Panthers on Saturday, Sept. 21 at 1 p.m. CT in Cedar Falls, Iowa.