SMU Hosts Connecticut And Temple During Effort To Raise Funds And Awareness For Cancer

Friday, October 7

Dallas

7 p.m.

SMU

Connecticut

Buy Tickets

SMU Hosts Connecticut And Temple During Effort To Raise Funds And Awareness For Cancer

Oct 5 | Volleyball

Match Notes

SMU (11-5, 4-0 The American) vs. Connecticut (12-3, 3-1 The American)
Date & Time	Friday, Oct. 7 at 7 p.m.
Location	Moody Coliseum – Dallas, Texas
Live Stats	SIDEARM Stats
Live Video	PonyUp TV
Match Info	Match Notes (.pdf)
SMU vs. Temple (10-4, 3-1 The American)
Date & Time	Sunday, Oct. 9 at 1 p.m.
Location	Moody Coliseum – Dallas, Texas
Live Stats	SIDEARM Stats
Live Video	PonyUp TV
SMU Volleyball on Social Media
Facebook	/SMUMustangs \| /SMUVolleyball
Twitter	@SMUMustangs \| @SMUVolleyball
Instagram	/SMUVolleyball

The SMU volleyball team puts its 4-0 conference record on the line against two of the top teams in the league this weekend, hosting Connecticut Friday at 7 p.m. and Temple Sunday at 1 p.m. in Moody Coliseum. The Mustangs improved to 4-0 with road wins at Tulane and Houston, and sit in first place in The American.

The matches will also have an impact off the court, as the Mustangs are making an effort to raise funds and awareness for both pediatric cancer and breast cancer. Friday, SMU will "Lace Up 4 Pediatric Cancer", wearing gold laces to show its partnership with Go 4 The Goal to help in the program's mission to improve the lives of children battling cancer by providing financial support, developing and implementing unique hospital programs, funding innovative research, and granting personal wishes. Sunday, the Mustangs will hold their annual "Mustangs For a Cure" match, which is part of a department-wide effort to fight breast cancer. The team will be wearing pink uniforms, that will be auctioned off through a silent auction at the game. The first 200 fans will get a pink "Mustangs for a Cure" shirt, and the team will be wearing the same shirts during warmups.

Katie Hegarty leads the Mustangs, who have won six of their last seven matches, with 218 kills, and ranks fifth in The American with 3.76 kills per set. Lauren Mills is scoring 3.06 kills per set against conference opponents, and Kristen Stehling's .333 hitting percentage in league play ranks eighth in The American. Janelle Giordano has 119 kills and a league-best 72 blocks. Morgan Heise leads the league with 5.31 digs per set, and earned her second straight Defensive Player of the Week award after the road trip. SMU is 11-5 overall and 4-1 at home this season.

Connecticut is 12-3 with a league-best .800 win percentage overall, and is in a four-team tie for second with a 3-1 record in The American, losing in five sets to Temple. The Huskies have won nine of their last 11 matches, led offensively by freshman Kayla Williams with 205 kills, 3.8 per set. Connecticut leads the league with a .270 attack percentage, and is hitting .306 in league matches, led by Hayley Cmajdalka with a .418 attack percentage. SMU is 7-0 all-time against the Huskies, winning all six AAC matches. The Mustangs took the first match in the series with a 3-1 victory in Storrs, Conn., on Sept. 25, 1999. Last season, SMU won 3-0 in Storrs on Nov. 20 to clinch the American Athletic Conference championship outright.

Temple enters the weekend 10-4 overall, winning eight of its last nine matches, including five-set road victories in its last two conference matches. The Owls' only league loss was a 22-20 defeat in the fifth set against Tulane in the conference opener. Irem Asci leads the team and is second in the conference with 245 kills, averaging 4.45 per set. In conference play, Asci is scoring a league-best 5.16 kills per set for the team picked to finish second by the league's coaches. Izzy Rapacz is second on the team with 171 kills, and is the only other Owl with more than 100 kills. SMU is 3-4 all-time against Temple, with each team winning its three home matches since the start of the American Athletic Conference in 2013. The Owls won the first meeting 3-2 on Sept 21, 2002 in Albuquerque, N.M.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Morgan Heise was named American Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Week for the second straight week after leading the SMU volleyball team to a pair of road wins. The senior libero had 30 digs against Tulane, recording at least 30 in a match for the 10th time in her career, and had 11 of SMU's 44 digs at Houston. The Mustangs held the Cougars to a .053 attack percentage in the 3-0 victory. Heise leads the conference with 5.31 digs per set, one of only two players in the league averaging 5.0 or more digs per set.

NATIONAL LEADERS
Morgan Heise and Janelle Giordano are both among the active career leaders in digs and blocks, respectively. Heise is third in the NCAA with 2,061 digs after setting a conference and SMU record with 721 digs as a junior, finishing second in the NCAA last year behind North Dakota's McKenzie Hart, who recorded 787 digs. Heise was third in the NCAA last season, setting an SMU and conference record with 6.06 digs per set. In her career, she is fourth among active players with a 5.01 average. Heise has 308 digs this year, leading the league with 5.31 per set.

Janelle Giordano was third in the NCAA with 188 total blocks last season, an SMU and conference record, and fifth in blocks per set, averaging 1.58, also a school and league record. In her career, Giordano has 533 total blocks, second among active career leaders. Giordano has 119 kills as a senior, hitting .300, with 72 blocks, and leads the conference with 1.24 per set.

COACH OF THE YEAR
Lisa Seifert was named AVCA Region Coach of the Year and American Athletic Conference Coach of the Year after leading the Mustangs to a 27-6 record, a 17-3 mark in The American, the program's first conference championship and an NCAA appearance. She guided five players to all-conference honors, including Player and Setter of the Year, Avery Acker, and back-to-back Libero of the Year, Morgan Heise. Three players were named to the all-region team, and Avery Acker earned her third All-America Honorable Mention award, as well as CoSIDA Academic All-American of the Year accolades. Seifert was also named Western Athletic Conference Coach of the Year in 2003.

PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE
Janelle Giordano and Morgan Heise were each named to the American Athletic Conference All-Preseason team after earning first-team all-conference honors last season. Both seniors, Giordano and Heise are closing in on all-time records at SMU. Giordano has 533 total blocks, needing 47 to pass Courtney Manning, who blocked 579 attacks from 2009-12. Heise has 2,061 digs, needing 158 to pass Sidney Stewart, who had 2,218 digs from 2008-11.

FRESHMAN CLASS
SMU added five freshmen to its 2016 roster. The signing class includes a player at every position, including 6-3 middle blocker Meryn Kennedy, who finished with 135 blocks and 194 kills while hitting .464 as a senior at Allen High School.
The Mustangs also signed Ashley Homan, a 6-0 outside hitter from Brenham High School, the same program which produced All-American Caroline Young. Ashtyn Richey, a 6-1 right side from Prosper High School, gives SMU a third 6-footer in the class, which also includes Kendall Patterson, a setter from Hebron High School in Carrollton, Texas, and Montana Watts, a libero from Boyd High School in McKinney, Texas.

MOODY MAGIC
SMU set a program record with 15 home wins and just one loss in 2014, and went 14-2 at home last season. The Mustangs are 173-98 all-time in Moody Coliseum, and went 10-2 in 2013 while playing home matches in the Dedman Center on campus. SMU has won at least 10 matches at home in six of the last eight seasons, going 91-22 on the Hilltop during the stretch. Since joining the American Athletic Conference in 2013, SMU is 27-4 at home in conference matches. The Mustangs are 4-1 at home this season.

RECENT SUCCESS
Over the last seven seasons, SMU is 153-70 overall and 98-36 in conference matches, including a 46-12 record in three seasons in the American Athletic Conference. Five players have combined for eight All-America Honorable Mention awards, and a Mustang has earned a conference Player of the Year award for their position each of the past three seasons, with Avery Acker earning the program's first conference Player of the Year award. Acker and Morgan Heise each have two player of the year awards at their positions.

KATIE HEGARTY
Katie Hegarty scored at least 10 kills in 13 of 16 matches this season, finishing with nine against [RV] Arizona, and has led the Mustangs in scoring 12 times. The junior is fifth in the conference, averaging 3.76 kills per set, and is third on the team with a .262 attack percentage. She recorded a career-high 23 kills against Little Rock, and has 218 kills this season. Hegarty was named MVP at the NC State Invitational, and earned all-tournament honors at the TCU Horned Frogs Classic and the SMU DoubleTree Classic. She scored 20 kills against TCU and 14 against then-No. 8 North Carolina.

KENDALL PATTERSON
Freshman setter Kendall Patterson is averaging 10.59 assists per set, ranking 45th in the NCAA and second in The American. Facing a pair of top-40 teams, including then-No. 8 North Carolina, in two of three matches at the Horned Frogs Classic, Patterson averaged 12.00 assists per set. She had a season-high 54 assists in a 3-2 win against Cincinnati, and has seven matches with at least 40 assists, including 40 in a 3-0 win against Little Rock. In conference matches, Patterson is averaging 11.00 assists per set, third in the league, and has the Mustangs hitting .229 with 13.47 kills per set.

KRISTEN STEHLING
Stehling has 267 total blocks in her career, needing one to climb into the top 10 all-time at SMU. The senior has 124 kills this season with 38 blocks and is second on the team with 12 service aces. In conference matches, Stehling is eighth in the league with a .306 attack percentage, averaging 2.35 kills per set, and has 12 blocks in 17 sets.

LAUREN MILLS
Lauren Mills has 141 kills this season, second on the team. She scored a career-high 15 kills against East Carolina. The junior has reached double figures in kills seven times, including all four conference matches, and has six double-doubles. Mills recorded a career-high 20 digs against UTSA at home earlier this season, and posted at least 10 digs in eight matches this year. She is second on the team with 175 digs, averaging 3.02 per set, and also has 10 service aces. In conference play, Mills ranks 10th in the league with 3.06 kills per set, scoring 52 in 17 sets.

ASHLEY HOMAN
Freshman Ashley Homan got her first start of the season against Sam Houston State and scored a team-high 11 kills with a .435 attack percentage. The outside hitter has 44 kills in 25 sets this season, scoring 22 in 11 sets at the Horned Frogs Classic. She also has seven blocks, 12 digs and an assist.