Wildcats Suffer 3-1 Setback at Southern Methodist

Friday, September 6

Dallas, TX

7 p.m. CT

Davidson College Athletics

4-1

Southern Methodist

4-2

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Davidson	26	25	19	15	1
SMU	28	22	25	25	3

Photo by: Tim Cowie - DavidsonPhotos.com

Wildcats Suffer 3-1 Setback at Southern Methodist

9/6/2013 11:40:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

By: Ashley Bailey

DALLAS, Texas – A pair of Wildcats posted double-digit kills as the squad combined for nine blocks, but it wasn't enough to rally the Davidson volleyball team past Southern Methodist as the 'Cats suffered a 3-1 setback in their second game of the SMU Invitational at the Dedman Center Friday evening.

SMU took the match in set scores of 28-26, 22-25, 25-19 and 25-15.

Caroline Brown once again led the team with 16 kills, adding in nine digs and a pair of block assists. Taylor Pisel also had a strong performance, scoring with 10 kills and four block assists. She also posted a team-high hitting percentage of .280 as the 'Cats hit under .200 for the first time all season. Emily Franklin and Rachel Earnhardt each recorded six kills, with Franklin putting up a team-high five block assists as well.

Mikayla Derochie put up 42 assists as well as an ace. Defensively, Anastasia Owen and Morgan Shannon led the way with 16 and 10 digs, respectively.

Southern Methodist hit .235 as a team, led by Cailin Bula's 15 kills. Bula was one of five Mustangs to finish with double digit kills. Avery Acker had 57 assists in the match, while a trio of SMU players recorded double digit digs. The Mustangs also posted nine team blocks.

The Wildcats gave the Mustangs everything they could handle in the first set. The teams battled to a 12-12 tie, continuing to trade points until an SMU kill evened the score at 20-20 once again. A kill from Brown and a pair of SMU errors knotted things at 23-all before the Mustangs claimed four of the last five points as the 'Cats dropped the set 26-28 to fall to 0-1.

The squads battled in the second set as well, playing to an 8-8 tie. The two then combined for seven straight errors as SMU went ahead 13-11. A kill from Brown got things back on track, but eight more miscues between the teams put the Wildcats in front 23-20. Soon after Pisel stepped in to put the set away in favor of the Wildcats at 25-22 to even the match score at 1-1.

However, Davidson struggled to maintain its momentum through the next two sets. The Mustangs rattled off five straight points to take a 12-3 lead before Brown slammed home a pair in helping cut the deficit to six at 15-9. Four straight points from the 'Cats later in the set made it a five-point set, but a kill from Abbey Bybel gave the Mustangs the 25-19 set win and 2-1 match lead.

SMU jumped out to a 10-5 lead early in the fourth set, and Pisel and Franklin kept it a four-point set with a pair of kills. The Wildcats took advantage of a pair of SMU miscues to cut the deficit to three at 16-13, but were pushed to the brink on a 6-0 run by the Mustangs. Back-to-back kills by SMU's Caroline Young closed things out as the Mustangs took a 25-15 set victory for the 3-1 triumph.

Davidson will wrap up play at the SMU Invite when they take on Grambling State Saturday afternoon in noon (CT) match up.