SMU (2-1) vs. Pepperdine (2-1)
Date & Time	Friday, Sept. 2 at 12 p.m. CDT/10 a.m. MST
Location	McKale Memorial Center – Tucson, Ariz.
Live Stats	Arizona Live Stats
Match Info	Match Notes (.pdf)
SMU vs. [RV] Arizona (0-3)
Date & Time	Friday, Sept. 2 at 9 p.m. CDT/7 p.m. MST
Location	McKale Memorial Center – Tucson, Ariz.
Live Stats	Arizona Live Stats
Live Video	PAC-12 Network (Online Only)
SMU vs. Alabama State (1-3)
Date & Time	Saturday, Sept. 3 at 5:30 p.m. CDT/3:30 p.m. MDT
Location	McKale Memorial Center – Tucson, Ariz.
Live Stats	Arizona Live Stats
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After starting the season at home, going 2-1 in the SMU DoubleTree Classic, the SMU volleyball team starts a stretch of three weekends on the road, playing three matches at Arizona in Tucson Friday and Saturday. SMU plays Pepperdine Friday at 12 p.m. CT and Arizona Friday at 9 p.m. CT, before finishing the tournament Saturday against Alabama State at 5:30 p.m. CT.

The Mustangs swept Montana and Little Rock, but fell 3-1 to UTSA on opening weekend. Morgan Heise was named Best Libero of the tournament with 48 digs in the first two days, surpassing 1,800 in her career. The senior is the active leader in the NCAA with 1,801 career digs. Katie Hegarty was named to the all-tournament team, and leads the American Athletic Conference with 4.8 kills per set after opening weekend. Freshman Kendall Patterson is ninth in the NCAA, averaging 12.2 assists per set.

Pepperdine went 2-1 at home to start the season, beating Rhode Island and Cal State Northridge in five sets and falling 3-1 to Lipscomb. Tarah Wylie and Heidi Dyer each led the Waves with 31 kills, and Hana Lishman recorded 56 digs, averaging 4.0 per set. Pepperdine hit .226 as a team, while opponents hit .209. The Waves went 17-14 last season. This is the first meeting between the two programs. 

Arizona was winless in its first tournament, but two of the losses came to top-10 teams, including a five-set loss at then-No. 6 Hawaii. The Wildcats, who won the 2015 SMU DoubleTree Classic, beating SMU 3-1, also fell to then-No. 4 Wisconsin and Kansas State on opening weekend. Kalei Mau led the team with 44 kills, hitting .227, and Devyn Cross recorded 14 blocks. Arizona hit just .196 as a team with 147 kills, while opponents hit .221 with 153 kills. The 2015 contest was the first meeting between SMU and Arizona. 

Alabama State is 1-3 in 2016, winning a five-set match against North Carolina A&T before dropping three straight. Three players have at least 30 kills, led by Ni'yesha Brown's 34 with a .110 attack percentage. Jamie Coleman is averaging 3.06 digs per set, and Briana Dorsey has 14 blocks. The Lady Hornets are hitting .084 as a team, and opponents are hitting .198. This is the first meeting between the two programs.

TEAM CAPTAINS
Seniors Morgan Heise and Kristen Stehling were selected as 2016 team captains by their teammates. For Heise, this is the second year as a team captain.
"These two seniors have the traits necessary to guide our team through the highs and lows that can happen during a season," Seifert explained. "We have one of the largest freshmen classes we've ever had, and our captains have been very influential, providing guidance during summer and fall camp. I am confident this leadership will continue, and aid in our success during the season."

NATIONAL LEADERS
Morgan Heise and Janelle Giordano are both among the active career leaders in digs and blocks, respectively. Heise the active leader in the NCAA among with 1,801 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 second among 2015 juniors with a 4.97 average, trailing only Georgia Southern's Alex Beecher who records 5.02 digs per set.

NCAA Active Career Digs Leaders 
1.    Morgan Heise, SMU    1,801
4.    Brooke Berryhill, Tulsa    1,797
1.    Allie Yamashiro, Manhattan    1,797
3.    Alex Beecher, Georgia Southern    1,789
5.    Morganne Longoria, Valparaiso    1,610

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 461 total blocks, third among 2015 juniors.

NCAA Active Career Blocks Leaders
1.     Whitney Young Howard, BYU    504
2.     Haleigh Nelson, Wisconsin    469
3.     Janelle Giordano, SMU    468
4.    Chidima Osuchukwu, GWU    456
5.    Carolee Dillard, Little Rock    452

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 468 total blocks, needing 132 to pass Courtney Manning, who blocked 579 attacks from 2009-12. Heise has 1,801 digs, needing 418 to pass Sidney Stewart, who had 2,218 digs from 2008-11.

SMU Career Blocks
1.    Courtney Manning, 2009-12    579
2.    Kendra Kahanek, 2006-09    530
3.    Natalie Peters, 2005-08    484
4.    Janelle Giordano, 2013-Present    468
5.    Melissa Godwin, 1997-2000    443

SMU Career Digs
1.    Sideny Stewart, 2008-11    2,218
2.    Morgan Heise, 2013-Present    1,801
3.    Dana Powell, 2008-11    1,641

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 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 91-22 on the Hilltop during the stretch. Since joining the American Athletic Conference in 2013, SMU is 25-4 at home in conference matches.

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.

COLLEGIATE DEBUTS
Freshman setter Kendall Patterson started all three matches and played all 10 sets, recording 122 assists on SMU's 136 kills. Averaging 12.2 assists per set, Patterson is ninth in the NCAA in assists per set, with Wisconsin's Lauren Carlini leading the country with 13.3 assists per set. Avery Acker, a three-time All-America Honorable Mention award winner at SMU and the 2015 conference Player of the Year, posted 99 assists in eight sets in her first three starts in 2012, averaging 12.38 assists per set. Patterson recorded her first double-double with 46 assists and 10 digs against UTSA, and had 40 assists in three sets against Little Rock. She also scored seven blocks and two kills. 

KRISTEN STEHLING
Splitting time at middle blocker with All-American Janelle Giordano, senior team captain Kristen Stehling finished with 100 blocks as a junior, reaching the century mark for the second straight season, and scored 264 kills with a .302 attack percentage, second on the team in 2015. She has 235 total blocks in her career, needing 34 to climb into the top 10 all-time at SMU. She scored 26 kills on opening weekend, hitting .327, second on the team in both categories. The senior also recorded six blocks and five digs.

KATIE HEGARTY
In her first full season as a starter, Katie Hegarty scored 273 kills, second among returning letterwinners, hitting .227 as an opposite hitter. In 111 sets, the junior also recorded 83 blocks and 44 digs. Hegarty scored at least 10 kills in each of the first three matches of 2016, including a career-high 23 kills in a three-set win against Little Rock. She leads the conference with a .398 attack percentage, and her 4.8 kills per set was also the highest in the league over opening weekend.