SMU volleyball took on UCF to five sets in Moody Coliseum ending in a heartbreaking loss on Friday.
Before this loss SMU volleyball was on an 11 game win streak, marking a program best. The Mustangs had four blocks in the final set and Morgan Heise had five of the teams 17 digs. SMU only had six kills while UCF had only nine, but enough for the victory.
The first set was a long one, but the Mustangs won it 32-30. The victory was secured through a kill from Kristen Stehling and a block by Janelle Giordano and Abbey Bybel.
Acker recorded assists on 22 of the Mustang’s 25 kills in the first set and Giordano scored eight kills.
In the fifth set, the Mustangs had four attackers with at least 10 kills. Cailin Bula had 15 and Caroline Young scored 13. Stehling and Giordano each finished with 12.
Sunday afternoon was a different story and the Mustangs seemed to be back in full force.
SMU took on USF for a 3-0 victory in Moody Coliseum, improving to 12-2 overall.
Acker recorded her 2,000th career assist, making her the sixth Mustang to reach that. She also assisted on 38 of the Mustang’s 47 kills in the win, moving her season total to 608 and her career total to 2,030.
The Mustangs are now 1-1 in the American Athletic Conference.
In the first set the Mustangs took an early 10-5 lead and held it through the remainder of the set for a 25-18 lead. Bybel ended with four kills while Young and Giordano scored three each. The Mustangs held the Bulls to a .100 attack percentage in the set with 14 kills to the Bulls nine kills.
The second set was closer ending in a 25-23 Mustang victory. SMU took an early lead again, but the Bulls fought back to tie the score 14-14. The Mustangs kept fighting and the Bulls never took the lead. Set point was by Lauren Mills, who scored her second kill of the set to give the Mustangs the win.
The third set was close again after the Mustangs came back from three down, but finished the sweep 25-21. Young scored match point for her seventh kill of the set.
SMU heads to Cincinnati this weekend to play them on Friday at 7 p.m. and then to Memphis on Sunday for the first road contest of the conference season.
