The SMU volleyball team faces Texas A&M Friday at 4 p.m. in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Austin, Texas. The Mustangs are making their second straight appearance in the tournament after facing Purdue in Austin in the first round in 2015.
ABOUT SMU
The SMU volleyball team went 25-7 in the regular season with an 18-2 mark in the American Athletic Conference to win the championship and earn a bid in the NCAA Tournament for the second straight season. The 18 conference wins is a program record. SMU went 17-3 in 2015 to win the program's first conference championship, and 17-3 in 2010, finishing second in Conference USA.
SCOUTING TEXAS A&M
Texas A&M went 21-8 during the regular season and was tied for third with Kentucky in the SEC, going 15-3 in the conference. The Aggies played seven matches against top-25 teams. Five attackers have more than 200 kills, led by Kiara McGee, who scored 332 kills. Texas A&M hit .262 with 14.36 kills per set as a team, and held opponents to 12.57 kills on a .176 attack percentage.
IN THE POLLS
The Mustangs have received votes in each of the last two AVCA Coaches Top 25 Polls, ranking 31st this week based on the number of votes. Texas A&M is one spot ahead of SMU at 30th, earning two more votes than the Mustangs. This is the fourth season and third straight SMU has received votes in the poll. SMU first received votes in the Aug. 30, 2010 poll. SMU spent eight weeks receiving votes in 2015, climbing as high as 26th, and appeared among those receiving votes three times in 2014.
AGAINST THE FIELD
This is the first meeting between SMU and Texas A&M. The Mustangs are 1-3 against Texas, with each match ending 3-0. SMU won at home on Oct. 2, 2000. The Longhorns won in Austin in 1999 and 2011, and in Dallas in 2004. SMU has never faced UT Rio Grande Valley.
SMU TOURNAMENT HISTORY
The Mustangs played Purdue in the first round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament, falling 3-1 in Austin, Texas. It was SMU's first appearance in the tournament.
Katie Hegarty had nine kills in the match, and
Janelle Giordano scored seven kills with three blocks. SMU's top attackers in the match,
Abbey Bybel and
Cailin Bula, as well as setter
Avery Acker all graduated.
FINISHING THE SEASON
SMU finished the regular season on a seven-match win streak, the longest of the season, after a loss at Cincinnati. The Mustangs lost just two sets during the stretch, at Temple and at Connecticut. The win at Temple was the first in the series for SMU (4-5 overall, 1-3 at Temple), and secured the conference championship for the second straight season. SMU clinched the league's automatic bid to the tournament with the 3-1 win at Connecticut, winning the last three sets.
LEGENDARY LIBERO
Morgan Heise was named American Athletic Conference Libero of the Year for the third straight season. She led the league and ranks 20th in the NCAA with 5.16 digs per set, finishing the regular season with 593 digs, 26th in the country. She set the SMU and conference career record with 2,346 digs, which ranks third among active liberos in NCAA Division I. She recorded a season-high 30 digs in a five-set win at Tulane, and finished with at least 20 in a match 14 times, including four 3-set matches. She was named Defensive Player of the Week four times.
NCAA ACTIVE CAREER DIGS LEADERS
1. Alex Beecher, Ga. Southern 2,379
2. Brooke Berryhill, Tulsa 2,374
3. Morgan Heise, SMU 2,346
4. Allie Yamashiro, Manhattan 2,264
5. Morganne Longoria, Valparaiso 2,249
NCAA ACTIVE CAREER DIGS PER SET
1. Courtney Pence, Illinois St. 5.32
2. Challen Geraghty, Kent St. 5.24
3. Kate Klepetka, A&M-Corpus Christi 5.11
4. Alex Beecher, Ga. Southern 5.04
5. Jessie Thornton, Wright St. 5.03
6. Kalehua Katagiri, Siena 5.02
7. Morgan Heise, SMU 5.01
SMU CAREER DIGS
1. Morgan Heise, 2013-Present 2,346
2. Sidney Stewart, 2008-11 2,218
3. Dana Powell, 2008-11 1,641
2016 NCAA SEASON DIGS LEADERS
1. Madeline Garda, Bowling Green 726
26. Morgan Heise, SMU 593
2016 NCAA SEASON Digs/SET LEADERS
1. Madeline Garda, Bowling Green 6.66
20. Morgan Heise, SMU 5.16
BLOCK BY BLOCK TO THE TOP
Janelle Giordano was named to the all-conference team for the fourth time in her career, earning her third first-team selection. She holds the SMU and conference record for career blocks with 615, leading the league and ranking 17th in the NCAA with 154 this season. Giordano is second among active NCAA Division I players in career blocks, and seventh in blocks per set with a conference and program record 1.33 blocks per set.
NCAA ACTIVE CAREER BLOCKS LEADERS
1. Whitney Young Howard, BYU 619
2. Janelle Giordano, SMU 615
3. Chidima Osuchukwu, GWU 595
4. Carolee Dillard, Little Rock 587
5. Haleigh Nelson, Wisconsin 573
NCAA ACTIVE CAREER BLOCKS PER SET
1. Rhamat Alhassan, Florida 1.48
2. Whitney Young Howard, BYU 1.46
3. Amy Boswell, BYU 1.41
4. Kaz Brown, Kentucky 1.39
5. Chidima Osuchukwu, GWU 1.36
6. Leah Levert, Syracuse 1.34
7. Janelle Giordano, SMU 1.33
SMU CAREER BLOCKS
1. Janelle Giordano, 2013-Present 615
2. Courtney Manning, 2009-12 579
3. Kendra Kahanek, 2006-09 530
4. Natalie Peters, 2005-08 484
5. Melissa Godwin, 1997-2000 443
6. Jessica Oliver, 2008-11 435
7. Janna Newsom, 1998-01 393
8. Ashley Nener, 2002-05 353
9. Kristen Stehling, 2013-Present 315
2016 NCAA SEASON BLOCKS LEADERS
1. Ali Bastianelli, Illinois 201
17. Janelle Giordano, SMU 154
COACH OF THE YEAR
Lisa Seifert was named 2015 AVCA Region Coach of the Year and American Athletic Conference Coach of the Year after leading the Mustangs to a 27-6 record, 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, and earned her 350th career win with a 3-1 victory against Connecticut Oct. 7, 2016.
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 177-99 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 94-22 on the Hilltop during the stretch. Since joining the American Athletic Conference in 2013, SMU is 31-5 at home in conference matches. The Mustangs went 11-2 at home this season, 9-1 in league play.
RECENT SUCCESS
SMU went 25-7 in the regular season winning at least 25 matches in each of the last three seasons after a 22-win season in 2013, the first season in the American Athletic Conference. The 2016 senior class earned its 100th win at Connecticut in the regular-season finale. SMU is 100-28 in the last four seasons, winning a program-record 27 matches in 2015. SMU finished second in The American in 2013 and 2014 before winning back-to-back conference championships in 2015 and 2016. SMU went 17-3 in league play last season before a program-record 18 conference wins with just two losses in 2016.
ALL-CONFERENCE AWARDS
Morgan Heise was named American Athletic Conference Libero of the Year, and
Kendall Patterson was named the league's Freshman of the Year, giving SMU seven conference specialty awards since 2013.
Janelle Giordano earned her fourth all-conference selection, joining Heise, who was a first-team selection each of the past three seasons, and
Katie Hegarty on the first team.
Kristen Stehling was tabbed to the second team, along with Patterson. With five all-conference selections, SMU matches its program high for the fifth time and third time in the last three seasons (2013, 2014 and 2016). SMU has a total of 19 All-American Athletic Conference awards in four seasons.
KATIE HEGARTY
Katie Hegarty scored at least 10 kills in 26 matches this season, including 16 of 20 conference matches. The junior finished fourth in the conference, averaging 3.79 kills per set. Cincinnati's Jordan Thompson led the league with 4.84 kills per set. Hegarty recorded a career-high 23 kills against Little Rock, and has 436 kills this season, eighth all-time in a season at SMU and the most at SMU since Dana Powell had 440 in 2009. She eclipsed 20 kills four times, including a 3-2 win at TCU. 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. It was the first by a Mustang since Kelly Larkan has 10 kills, 11 digs and 10 blocks at Boise State on Sept. 26, 2003.
SMU SINGLE-SEASON KILLS
1. Rachel Giubilato (2006 - 122 sets) 568
2. Erin Pryor (1997 - 126 sets) 473
3. Kelly Klecka (2000 - 108 sets) 469
4. Erin Pryor (1999 - 120 sets) 466
5. Beth Karasek (2004 - 98 sets) 453
6. Beth Karasek (2003 - 114 sets) 449
7. Dana Powell (2009 - 117 sets) 440
8. Katie Hegarty (2016 - 115 sets) 436
KENDALL PATTERSON
Freshman setter
Kendall Patterson led The American with 1,258 assists, ranking 21st in the NCAA. Arkansas State's Mallory Warrington led the nation with 1,372 assists. Patterson is tied for eighth in a season at SMU, and second in program history among freshmen setters, trailing Jessica Mihm who had 1,326 assists in 2002. Patterson recorded a season-high 54 assists in a 3-2 win against Cincinnati, and had 53 in a 3-1 win at Temple, SMU's first win at Temple in four road matches. She posted a team-high 11 double-doubles, recording 296 digs, third on the team, and also had a team-high 38 service aces. She was named conference Offensive Player of the Week three times, and had SMU hitting .231, the third-highest attack percentage in program history. SMU hit .245 in 2015 and .243 in 2013. Patterson had at least 40 assists in 16 matches, including 43 in a 3-0 win at East Carolina.
SMU SINGLE-SEASON ASSISTS
1.
Avery Acker (2015 - 119 sets) 1,482
2. Leslie Olson (1997 - 126 sets) 1,445
3. Jessica Mihm (2003 - 114 sets) 1,444
4.
Avery Acker (2014 - 121 sets) 1,413
5. Tara Hatfield (2000 - 103 sets) 1,411
6. Jessica Mihm (2002 - 108 sets) 1,326
7. Kelli Becerra (2010 - 124 sets) 1,325
T-8. Kendall Patterson (2016 - 115 sets) 1,258
T-8. Leslie Olson (1999 - 100 sets) 1,258
T-8. Kelli Becerra (2009 - 121 sets) 1,258
KRISTEN STEHLING
Kristen Stehling has 315 blocks in her career, ranking ninth in program history. She has 86 blocks this season, and is one of four attackers with at least 200 kills, scoring 245 with a .277 attack percentage. The middle blocker scored at least 10 kills seven times this season, five times in conference matches. Stehling scored a season-high 13 kills against Montana and again against Cincinnati.
LAUREN MILLS
Lauren Mills has 290 kills this season, second on the team. She scored a career-high 15 kills against East Carolina before recording 19 kills at USF. She scored 15 kills in a 3-2 win at Temple. The junior has reached double figures in kills 14 times, and matched Patterson with 11 double-doubles. Mills recorded a career-high 20 digs against UTSA, and posted at least 10 digs in 17 matches this year. She is second on the team with 333 digs, and has 17 aces.
BRITTANY ADAMS
Brittany Adams has 197 kills, needing three to become the fifth Mustang to eclipse 200 this season. She also has 89 digs and 48 blocks. Adams scored a career-high 18 kills at Temple, and had 17 kills with 12 digs at home against the Owls for her first career double-double. She has reached double figures in kills four times this season.
DEFENSE WINS CHAMPIONSHIP
SMU led the American Athletic Conference in opponent hitting percentage at .165, ranking second in the league in blocks per set with 2.21 behind Cincinnati's 2.23 per set. SMU matched the Bearcats with 254.5 total blocks, led by Giordano's league-high 154 blocks. SMU was fourth in the league with 1,939 digs, averaging 16.86 per set. Tulsa led the league with 2,293 digs, averaging 18.34. Heise led the conference with 5.16 per set, and was third with 593 digs, trailing Tulsa Brooke Berryhill with 629 and Tulane's Kaylie McHugh with 594 digs.
