No. 10 volleyball rolls past No. 22 Florida State

[PonyPride]

From SMUMustangs.com:

No. 10 Mustangs Roll Past No. 22 Florida State

DALLAS (SMU) – No. 10 SMU volleyball tallied their 13th sweep of the season and sixth win over a ranked opponent Sunday night as the Mustangs swept #22 Florida State with sets scores of 25-16, 30-28, and 25-16. The Mustangs have won six straight matches and improved to 21-6 on the year and 13-3 in ACC play.

Naya Shime led the Ponies with 11 kills while hitting .381 with four blocks. Maya Tabron finished the match with seven kills, a match-high 13 digs, and three service aces. Celia Cullen guided the Mustang's offense, hitting .319 in the match with 33 assists, three digs, and three blocks.

Natalie Foster led the Mustangs in blocks with eight while adding five kills and two digs and hitting .364. As a team, SMU won the battle at the service line with eight aces to only two of the Seminoles.

MATCH NOTES:
SMU improved to 2-0 against Florida State.
Shime collected 10+ kills for the 20th time this season.
Tabron now has 13 double-digit dig performances this season.
With her eight blocks, Foster now has eight 5+ block outings. Her eight blocks are also tied for her second-highest mark this season.
The Mustangs remain tied for third in the ACC standings after the weekend.

HOW IT HAPPENED:
SET ONE | The Mustangs started the match strong with the first three points on two kills from Foster and a kill from Wheeler. Florida State responded with three straight of their own to even the score. The Seminoles then collected three of the next four to take a 7-6 lead and then stretched their lead to two on back-to-back kills on Ian Henke. After trading the following two points, SMU swung the momentum in their direction, scoring on eight of the next nine rallies to take a 17-13 lead and force the Seminoles to talk things over. After the timeout, SMU kept their foot on the gas. FSU won two of the next three points, followed by another long run by the Mustangs to put the set away. SMU's run was six straight to put them at match point. After a Florida State kill, Foster put the Seminoles away in the first frame with a kill to give SMU a 25-16 opening set victory. The Mustangs hit .461 in the first set, with four players having three kills.

SET TWO | Florida State took a 4-2 lead to start the second set, followed by a 3-0 run for the Mustangs, which gave them their first lead of the frame. The Seminoles later used a 4-0 run to take a 10-8 lead and then used another 3-0 run to go up 13-10. SMU answered with four straight, beginning with back-to-back kills from Natalia Newsome, followed by an ace from Tabron and a kill from Wheeler. Florida State added to the back-and-forth affair by scoring five of the next six to claim their second three-point edge of the set. The Seminoles held another three-point advantage a few rallies later (22-19) before SMU responded with three straight to even the score at 22-all. Florida State maneuvered itself into a set point. The Mustangs held on for four set points, guided by some missed serves by the Seminoles, and eventually worked for a set point of their own. SMU ended the set with three straight, including a kill from Newsone and Shime, to take the second set 30-28. Florida State had six service errors, and SMU finished with three aces in the frame.

SET THREE | A 3-0 run for the Seminoles took away a one-point Mustang lead, putting Florida State in front 8-6. After a point by each team, SMU took control of the frame with seven straight, starting with a kill from Tabron and an ace from Casey Batenhorst. As the momentum was beginning to shift, SMU put themselves in complete control with three straight blocks between the likes of Foster, Shime, and Tabron, which helped the Ponies take a 14-9 lead. Another run of four later in the frame all but sealed the deal for SMU over the Seminoles. The stretch put SMU up nine, which Florida State could never recover. The Mustangs went on to win the set 25-16, completing the sweep. Shime logged four kills on five swings and SMU hit .364 in the third set.

UP NEXT:
SMU Volleyball will hit the road for three straight, first in Raleigh, North Carolina, against N.C. State on Friday, Nov. 22, at 6 p.m. CT, airing on ACCNX.