The SMU volleyball team plays at Tulsa Wednesday at 6 p.m. before hosting Memphis Sunday in Moody Coliseum at 1 p.m. The Nov. 20 match against the Tigers is the last home match of the regular season for the Mustangs, who play three of their last four regular-season contest on the road. SMU will honor its seniors,
Janelle Giordano,
Morgan Heise and
Kristen Stehling, in a post-match ceremony Sunday.
With a 14-2 conference record, 21-7 overall, SMU has a one-match lead on Cincinnati in the American Athletic Conference standings, and a two match lead on Temple, with matches at Temple and at Connecticut to conclude the regular season. The Mustangs have won nine of their last 10 matches, including three straight sweeps after losing at Cincinnati.
Katie Hegarty leads the offense with 378 kills, and is one of four players with at least 200 kills. Freshman
Kendall Patterson leads the league with 10.83 assists per set, and SMU is third in conference matches with a .238 attack percentage.
Defensively, SMU is one of four teams averaging at least 17 digs per set against league opponents, and
Morgan Heise is one of two players in the conference with at least five digs per set, averaging 5.07 in league play. The senior leads the league overall with 5.22 digs per set. SMU has a league-high 147 blocks since the start of conference action, led by
Janelle Giordano's conference-best 89 total blocks. The senior has 141 this season, becoming the first Mustang with at least 600 career blocks (602).
Tulsa is 18-10 overall, 7-9 in The American, winning five straight before a loss to UCF. The five-match win streak came on the heels of a seven-match losing streak, which included a 3-1 loss at SMU in the teams' first meeting this season. Erica Bohannon leads the team with 406 kills, and is one of three players with at least 200 kills. As a team, Tulsa is hitting .199 while holding opponents to a .183 attack percentage. Brooke Berryhill is averaging 5.12 digs per set, second behind SMU's Heise. SMU is 23-17 all-time against Tulsa, winning each of the last four matches. The Mustangs are 10-10 all-time against the Golden Hurricane in Tulsa, including the 2012 C-USA tournament, but are 1-1 at Tulsa in The American matches, winning 3-0 on the road last season.
Memphis is 13-15 overall, 5-11 in The American. The Tigers lost their first seven conference matches, including a 3-0 loss to SMU, before winning three straight. Memphis then lost four of its next six matches. Catlin Lilly leads the team with 287 kills, and McKenzie Hayes has 226 kills. The Tigers are hitting .186 as a team, while opponents are hitting .195. SMU is 12-5 all-time against Memphis, including a 9-1 record at home. The Tigers last win in Dallas was a 3-1 victory on Nov. 2, 2007. SMU has won the last four in the series and eight of the last nine.Â
NATIONAL LEADERS BREAKING RECORDS
Janelle Giordano and
Morgan Heise rank among the active career leaders in their respective stat categories, while shattering career records at SMU. Heise broke her own single-season record with 721 digs last season, and has 2,280 career digs, ranking third among active Division I liberos. The senior passed Sidney Stewart, who set the SMU record with 2,218 digs from 2008-11. Heise had 625 digs as a sophomore, and was named conference Libero of the Year each of the last two seasons. She has 527 digs this season, averaging a league-high 5.22 per set, 18th in the NCAA, and has been named The American Defensive Player of the Week four times this season.Â
Giordano set a program and conference record with 188 blocks last season, third in the NCAA, and passed Courtney Manning to set an SMU career record with 602 blocks. Manning had 579 blocks from 2009-12. Giordano leads all active players with BYU's Whitney Young Howard right behind her with 601 blocks. The senior had a season-high 11 blocks against Tulane, and has 141 blocks this season, best in The American and 16th in the NCAA.Â
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. Seifert earned her 350th career win with a 3-1 victory against Connecticut Oct. 7, 2016.
FAST START
The Mustangs won their first five conference matches before falling in five sets against Temple, and SMU is in sole possession of first place in the conference at 14-2. The five-match win streak to start the conference schedule was the best since SMU won its first six league matches in 2003, going 8-1 before its second loss. SMU lost its first match of the season last year before winning 16 straight, the longest win streak in program history. The Mustangs went on to finish 17-3 in The American to win the championship.
FRESHMAN CLASS
SMU added five freshmen to its 2016 roster. Â 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 174-99 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 28-5 at home in conference matches. The Mustangs are 8-2 at home this season, 6-1 in league play.
RECENT SUCCESS
SMU is 21-7 this season, winning at least 20 wins for the fourth straight season. SMU is 96-28 since joining the American Athletic Conference in 2013, winning a program-record 27 matches in 2015. The Mustangs finished as the conference runner-up in 2013 and 2014 before winning the program's first conference championship with a 17-3 league record in 2015. SMU has a 60-14 record in conference matches, and
Avery Acker earned the program's first conference Player of the Year award last season. Acker (setter) and
Morgan Heise (libero) each won two player of the year awards at their positions. Four players earned six All-America Honorable Mention awards during the stretch. Mustangs have also claimed 14 all-conference accolades in the past three seasons.
KATIE HEGARTY
Katie Hegarty scored at least 10 kills in 22 matches this season, including 12 of 16 conference matches, and has led the Mustangs in scoring 18 times. The junior is fifth in the conference, averaging 3.74 kills per set. She recorded a career-high 23 kills against Little Rock, and has 378 kills this season. She scored 20 kills against TCU and 14 against then-No. 8 North Carolina. Hegarty eclipsed 20 kills for the fourth time this season with 22 against Tulane. Hegarty also has four double-doubles, and posted the first triple-double in American Athletic Conference history and sixth in program history with 22 kills, 12 digs and a career-high 10 blocks against the Green Wave.Â
KENDALL PATTERSON
Freshman setter
Kendall Patterson is averaging a league-best 10.83 assists per set, ranking 34th in the NCAA. 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. She had a season-high 54 assists in a 3-2 win against Cincinnati, and has 13 matches with at least 40 assists, including 43 in a 3-0 win at East Carolina. In conference matches, Patterson is averaging 11.12 assists per set, second in the league, and has the Mustangs hitting .238, third in the league, with 13.65 kills per set. She earned her second conference Offensive Player of the Week award after averaging 13.00 assists per set in wins against UCF and USF, guiding four attackers to at least 3.0 kills per set in the two sweeps.
KRISTEN STEHLING
Kristen Stehling has 304 blocks in her career, ranking ninth in program history. She has 75 blocks this season, and is one of four attackers with at least 200 kills, scoring 215 with a .263 attack percentage. The middle blocker has scored at least 10 kills six times this season, including four times in conference matches. Stehling scored a season-high 13 kills against Montana and again against Cincinnati.
LAUREN MILLS
Lauren Mills has 250 kills this season, second on the team. She scored a career-high 15 kills against East Carolina before recording 19 kills at USF. The junior has reached double figures in kills 21 times, including nine conference matches, and has nine double-doubles. Mills recorded a career-high 20 digs against UTSA at home earlier this season, and posted at least 10 digs in 12 matches this year, including seven conference matches. She is second on the team with 290 digs, averaging 2.87 per set, and also has 15 service aces.Â
BRITTANY ADAMS
Brittany Adams has 160 kills, averaging just under two per set, and the sophomore is averaging 2.08 kills per set in conference matches. Adams is one of five SMU attackers to score at least 150 kills this season. She also has 85 digs and 45 blocks. Adams scored a career-high 17 kills against Temple, Â and has reached double figures in kills three times this season. She also recorded a career-high 12 digs against the Owls for her first double-double.
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 49 kills in 31 sets this season, scoring 22 in 11 sets at the Horned Frogs Classic. She also has nine blocks, 12 digs and an assist.
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