The SMU volleyball team was defeated in a tight face off against UCF Sunday afternoon at Moody Coliseum. The Mustangs dropped their overall record to 14-17 and their conference record to 10-9, while the Knights improved to 11-8 in the conference and 19-11 for the season.
The sets went back and forth, as they were being won one by one by both teams. The first set was a tight fight, but the Knights took the set with a 25-21 win. UCF actually had the most errors, but they had more kills and were more offensive on the court. The Mustangs were able to take the lead four times, but they only had a one-point lead, which was not enough to take control over the set for a victory. The Mustangs fought harder on the second set and took it from UCF to tally up a 1-1 score. SMU had three more service errors than UCF, but were clearly more offensive then the Knights. The Mustangs had 14 kills that lead them to the 25-18 victory of the set.The Knights dominated the third set and took it with a 25-20 victory.
The Mustangs never showed up for a comeback, as they could not even tie the set at any point. The Mustangs responded in the fourth set by taking control of the match. The Knights managed to tie the match at 3-3, but never got back in the set as SMU went on to lead them by 13 points at 25-12. SMU forced the match in to a fifth set, which would determine to victor of the match.
The set looked like was going to be taken by UCF, as they lead the Mustangs with a score of 9-2. Sophomore middle blocker Caroline Daly got a block in, and the Mustangs were on road for a comeback. SMU was piling up aces and blocks that lead them to a 13-13 tie. The set then had to be won by two points in order to declare the winner. The Knights took the win home with a set score of 18-16, and a final score of 3-2. SMU tied the school record for most blocks in a five-set match with 19.0 blocks, the second time this season the Mustangs have blocked 19 attacks.
The Mustangs will host Tulsa for the final match of the regular season on Nov. 26 at 1 p.m. SMU will honor its four seniors in a ceremony before the match.
