Sept. 27, 2009

Box Score

Season Stats

NEW ORLEANS, La. (SMU) - A trio of Mustangs recorded either season- or career-highs against Tulane, but SMU dropped a heartbreaker in the Big Easy, falling 3-2 in five sets to the defending Conference USA champion (23-25, 25-21, 25-19, 21-25, 15-12).

Dana Powell led the Mustangs with 11 kills, recording her tenth double-double of the season with 16 digs. Kelli Becerra notched her eighth double-double of the season with 34 assists and a career-high 20 digs.

Kendra Kahanek added a season-high 12 blocks, and Jessica Oliver tied her career-high with nine blocks in the effort. The pair also added nine kills each, while Kahanek led the Mustangs hitting .333 in the match.

The Mustangs (10-6, 0-2 C-USA) held a slim lead late in the fourth set, 19-18, and used a total team effort to hold on and force a deciding fifth set. The two teams were even keel to the ten-point mark when SMU took a two-point lead 12-10. The Green Wave (7-4, 3-0 C-USA) rode their four seniors to five-straight points to take a 15-12 win for the match.

The Mustangs overcame a late three-point deficit in the first set, out-scoring Tulane 6-1 down the stretch to take the early advantage with a 25-23 set win. Tulane outlasted the Mustangs in the second set, breaking a 19-19 tie to even the match with a 25-21 set victory.

The Mustangs found themselves trailing by six points late in the third set. The fought hard to even the set, but three points was as close as they could get as Tulane took a 2-1 match lead with the 25-19 set victory.

It was a trio of Serbians leading the Green Wave, with Visnja Djurdjevic blasting a match-high 29 kills, while Marija Milosavljevic adding 22 and Ksenija Vlaskovic recording 19.

SMU will return home to take on East Carolina Friday at 7 p.m. in Moody Coliseum before hosting Marshall on Saturday at 7 p.m.