Three Mustangs Earn AVCA All-Region Honors
Dec 9 | Volleyball
LEXINGTON, Ky.Caroline Young was named to the AVCA All-Region First Team for the second time in three seasons. Avery Acker earned a second straight honorable mention to the team, and Janelle Giordano was also named honorable mention to the All-Southeast Region team.
Young, who was an All-America Honorable mention as a sophomore in 2012, scored 376 kills to lead the Mustangs for the third consecutive season. The senior from Brenham, Texas, averaged 3.16 kills per set despite playing only in the back row for 10 sets after suffering an ankle injury at Memphis. Young was named first team All-American Athletic Conference, earning her third straight all-conference first team selection and fourth all-conference award overall. She also finished second in the league with 45 aces, and sixth with 459.5 points scored overall. Young finished with nine double-doubles, posting 245 digs this season.
Acker, the 2013 Setter of the Year and an All-America and All-Region Honorable mention as a sophomore last season, finished the regular season ranked third in the nation with 1,413 assists, third most in a season at SMU, and was seventh in the country with 11.68 assists per set, seventh in a season at SMU and the highest average since 2004, when games were played to 30 points. She recorded a career-high 62 assists against New Mexico, and tallied 48 in a three-set win at Houston, the most in three sets by an SMU setter since 2004. The junior from Poth, Texas, earned her second straight first team all-conference award.
Acker also finished with a league-high 902 assists in conference matches, averaging 11.71 per set, setting records in The American for assists both overall and against conference opponents. She recorded a league-high 26 double-doubles, including 17 against The American opponents, and was second on the team with 393 digs, ranking 13th in the conference with 3.33 per set.
Giordano earned the first all-region award of her career after leading The American with 160.0 blocks, third most in a season at SMU, and was 36th in the NCAA with 1.31 blocks per set. She hit .314, 10th in the conference, with 261 kills. The Keller, Texas, native scored a career-high 13.0 blocks in four sets against Connecticut, which is third most in a match at SMU. The sophomore was named to the All-American Athletic Conference Second Team, after winning first team accolades a season ago.
The Mustangs set season records for wins, 26, wins at home, 15, home win percentage, .938 (15-1), overall win percentage, .813 (26-6), and season attendance, 8,625, averaging a record 539 fans per match. SMU finished second in the American Athletic Conference for the second straight season, matching Temple with a 15-5 record in league play, won a program-record 11 consecutive matches, including a 3-2 win against then-No. 24 Oklahoma, the first victory over a ranked opponent in program history, and received votes in the AVCA Coaches Top 25 Poll for three weeks, earning votes in the poll for the first time.
