Mustangs Conclude Road Stretch At Tulane And Houston
Oct 29 | Volleyball
| SMU (17-5, 6-4 The American) at Tulane (5-17, 3-7 The American) | |
| Date & Time | Friday, Oct. 31 at 1 p.m. |
| Location | Devlin Fieldhouse - New Orleans, La. |
| Live Stats | |
| Live Video | Tulane All-Access |
| Match Info | Match Notes (.pdf) |
| SMU at Houston (11-11, 3-7 The American) | |
| Date & Time | Sunday, Nov. 2 at 1 p.m. |
| Location | Athletics/Alumni Center - Houston, Texas |
| Live Stats | |
| Live Video | Houston All-Access |
| /SMUMustangs | /SMUVolleyball | |
| @SMUMustangs | @SMUVolleyball | |
Avery Acker directs the offensive attack and averages 11.40 assists per set, ranking 12th in the NCAA, and Caroline Young and Abbey Bybel lead the team with 242 and 241 kills, respectively. Morgan Heise earned her second conference Player of the Week award after averaging 7.11 digs per set in two road matches, including 36 digs at Connecticut. The sophomore is third in the conference and is 44th in the NCAA with 4.80 digs per set for the season.
Janelle Giordano leads the conference with 1.25 blocks per set, posting 105.0 overall. As a team, SMU is second in the league, holding opponents to a .160 attack percentage, while scoring 13.48 kills per set, which is fourth in the conference.
Tulane is 5-17 overall and 3-7 in The American, losing five of its last six matches. Sarah Ray leads the team with 3.06 kills per set, scoring 242, and Tea Juric has 215 kills. Grace Weaver has a team-high 208 digs, and three other Green Wave players are just under 200 digs.
Houston enters the weekend 11-11 overall and 3-7 in The American with three five-set losses in league matches. The Cougars have won two of their last three after a five-match losing skid. Kadi Kullerkann leads the conference with 5.11 kills per set, and Keandra McCardell is second behind SMU's Acker with 10.84 assists per set. Natalie Keck is second in the league with 4.99 digs per set to lead the defense.
SMU is 13-11 overall against Houston and 6-13 overall against Tulane. The Mustangs have won three of the last four matches against Tulane and seven of the last eight against Houston, including a win against each team in Moody Coliseum earlier this season.
HOME SWEET HOME
Over the past two seasons, SMU is 20-3 when playing at home, losing two five-set matches and suffering a loss to eventual league champion Louisville in 2013. The Mustangs are 10-1 in Moody Coliseum this season after going 10-2 in the Dedman Center last year while Moody Coliseum was undergoing renovations. The Mustangs are 150-95 all-time at home, with a 140-93 mark in Moody Coliseum. SMU set the record with 12 wins at home in 2009, and went 11-1 in 2003 for a program-best .917 win percentage at home.
SENIOR SEASON
For the season, Caroline Young has 242 kills, ranking eighth in the American Athletic Conference. She has scored at least 10 kills in each of the last four matches after two matches in the back row due to an injury, including three double-doubles to take her season total to six. She has scored at least 10 kills in 17 matches, including a season-high 23 against then-No. 24 Oklahoma. Young has 154 digs, 47 blocks and is second in the league with 31 aces. In her career, the Brenham, Texas, native has 1,272 kills, ranking ninth all-time at SMU.
MIDDLE BLOCKERS
The Mustangs are second in the American Athletic Conference and 97th in the NCAA with 2.27 blocks per set, recording 190.5 on the season, including a season-high 14 against UCF. Janelle Giordano leads the league and ranks 52nd in the country with 1.25 per set, posting 105 on the season, including a season-high nine against UCF. Kristen Stehling has 74 blocks, including a career-high nine against Houston, and is just outside the top 10 in the league with 0.88 per set.
NATIONAL RANKINGS
The Mustangs rank 57th in the NCAA in assists per set and 71st as a team nationally in kills per set. SMU is scoring 13.48 kills per set, and recording assists on 12.71 of the kills. The Mustangs are also 35th in the country, holding opponents to a .160 hitting percentage, and 97th in blocks per set, recording 2.27 per set. The Mustangs are also 66th in digs per set, averaging 15.99. Avery Acker is 12th in the country with 11.40 assists per set, and SMU has five attackers with at least 140 kills this season, including two with more than 200.
SETTING THE STAGE
Avery Acker is 12th in the NCAA and leads the American Athletic Conference with 11.40 assists per set. She set a career high with 62 assists against New Mexico, and has eclipsed 50 five times this season. The Poth, Texas, native has a league-high 17 double-doubles this season, including the last seven matches. The junior has accounted for 958 of SMU's 1068 assists, and has 265 digs, second on the team, including a career-high 25 at Temple. In her career, Acker has 2,384 assists, becoming the sixth player at SMU with at least 2,000 assists.
Abbey Bybel
Abbey Bybel scored a career-high 16 kills at Temple, reaching double figures for the seventh straight match. She has 241 kills overall, second on the team, and is third in digs with 227. She has recorded double-doubles in four of the last six matches, including a career-high 17 digs at Temple for her 10th double-double of the season. The junior has led the team in kills in six of the last eight matches, finishing with at least 10 kills 15 times this season.
Katie Hegarty
Katie Hegarty started the first two matches of her career against Houston and Tulane. The redshirt freshman finished with 11 kills in both matches, hitting .300 against Houston and .269 against Tulane. She also had eight blocks against the Green Wave after posting four against the Cougars.
Morgan Heise
Morgan Heise earned her second conference Player of the Week Award after averaging 7.11 digs per set at Temple and Connecticut, finishing with 36 at Connecticut and 28 at Temple. The sophomore is averaging 4.80 for the season, ranking third in The American and 44th in the NCAA. In conference matches, she is second in the league with 5.03 digs per set. Heise scored a career-high 38 digs at Arkansas, which ranks third in a match all-time at SMU. She has eclipsed 15 digs in 12 matches, including seven with more than 20 digs, and has 70 assists and 18 aces. She has 403 digs this season, taking her career total to 809.
Cailin Bula
With 15 kills at Temple and 16 kills at Connecticut, Cailin Bula reached double digits in back-to-back conference matches for the first time this season. The junior has eclipsed 10 kills 11 times this year, but just twice against American Athletic Conference opponents before the road trip. Bula is third on the team with 188 kills, and also has seven aces and 33 blocks.
Julianne Scheidler
Senior defensive specialist Julianne Scheidler recorded a career-high 12 digs in a four-set win at Connecticut after finishing with nine at Temple. In limited action, Scheidler's previous season high was seven digs at Memphis after Caroline Young suffered an ankle injury which knocked her out of the match. She has 46 digs this season, with 21 in the last two matches.
