No. 12 volleyball sweeps Notre Dame

[PonyPride]

From SMUMustangs.com:

No. 12 Mustangs Rout Notre Dame Friday Night

DALLAS (SMU) – No. 12 SMU volleyball took care of business Friday night, collecting their ninth sweep of the season in the win over Notre Dame (9-9, 2-7 ACC), with set scores of 25-18, 25-19, and 25-16.

The win improved the Mustangs' record to 15-5 and 7-2 in the ACC. SMU also improved to 7-3 at Moody Coliseum this season.

Naya Shime and Maya Tabron led the way for the Mustangs with 12 kills each. Shime hit .455 for the match with eight digs and three blocks, while Tabron added 12 digs to her stat line.

Jamison Wheeler was the other Mustang in double figures Friday night with 11 kills to go along with seven digs while hitting .300 against the Irish. Brooke Frazier and Tabron each dug 12 balls in the match to lead the Mustangs.

Celia Cullen paced the Mustangs at the Setter position with 36 assists, 11 digs, four kills, and two aces. As a team, SMU hit .292 for the match and held the Irish to a .109 hitting percentage Friday night.

MATCH NOTES:
Shime logged her 15 matches with 10+ kills this season to lead the Mustangs.
Tabron notched her seventh double-double of the year in the win over the Irish.
Wheeler reached double-digit kills for the eighth time this season.
With seven digs on the night, Wheeler is now 16 digs away from 1,000 for her career.
Frazier collected her second consecutive match with 10+ kills.
Cullen earned her third double-double of the season and third 10+ dig outing of the season.
The Mustangs improved to 4-0 when three or more Mustangs logged double-digit digs.
The matchup was the first meeting between the two programs.

HOW IT HAPPENED:
SET ONE | SMU used a five-point swing early to increase their 6-5 lead to 11-5, capped off by an ace from Cullen. Notre Dame slowly worked their way back to within two (15-13), but the Mustangs answered with two in response. After a service error by the Ponies, SMU collected three more to extend their lead to six 20-14. The Mustangs closed out the set, outscoring the Irish 5-3 to win the frame 25-18, their first set-one victory in five matches. Tabron led the way in the opening set with five kills on eight attacks.

SET TWO | The Mustangs executed another fast start in the second set, gathering a 9-3 lead. Wheeler collected three early kills in the frame. A small run by Notre Dame closed the gap to four (12-8), but the Mustangs responded with another quality stretch to take a 17-10 lead and force an Irish timeout after an ace from Bolton. Notre collected four of the next five points to cut their deficit to four and force SMU to talk things over. After the break, the teams traded points until the Mustangs were able to string two points together on a service error by the Irish and a kill from Wheeler to take a 23-17 advantage. A kill from Notre Dame, followed by another kill from Wheeler, put the Mustangs at set point. The Irish were able to hold on for one set point, but a kill from Shime gave SMU a 25-19 set two win and put the Ponies up 2-0 in the match. Wheeler led the frame with six kills.

SET THREE | After a back-and-forth start to the third frame, where SMU held a narrow 7-6 lead, the Mustangs used a 5-0 run to take a 12-6 lead on two kills from Tabron, a block from Okammor and Shime, an ace from Cullen, and an attack error by the Irish. The Mustangs stretched their lead to as much as eight in the set (21-13) and then cruised to a third-set victory after trading points down the stretch. An attack error by the Irish put the Mustangs at set point (24-15). They were able to fight off one set point but a kill from Shime ended the set and the match. Shime and Foster each had four kills in the set, with Foster going four for five on swings.

SMU LEADERS:
SMU Kills Leader: Naya Shime/Maya Tabron (12)
SMU Assist Leader: Celia Cullen (36)
SMU Digs Leader: Maya Tabron/Brooke Frazier (12)
SMU Blocks Leader: Nnedi Okammor (4)
SMU Ace Leader: Celia Cullen (2)


UP NEXT:
SMU Volleyball will host No. 4 Louisville at Moody Coliseum on Sunday at 12 p.m. CT on ESPN.

[indianmustang]

Sunday match is the one we need to win