The SMU volleyball team plays its second of three straight road tournaments Friday and Saturday at the NC State Invitational in Raleigh, N.C., taking on Delaware Friday at 3 p.m. ET/2 p.m. CT, and High Point and host N.C. State Saturday.
The Mustangs enter the tournament with a 3-3 record, hosting a tournament before playing at the Arizona Invitational.
Katie Hegarty leads the team and ranks third in the American Athletic Conference with 3.85 kills per set, hitting .317.
Lauren Mills is second on the team in kills with 50, posting her first career double-double with 10 kills and 14 digs against Alabama State. SMU is holding opponents to a .155 attack percentage, with
Morgan Heise leading the league with 5.40 digs per set.
Delaware is 4-2, winning four straight with just one set lost before losing its last two matches. Maria Bellinger leads the Blue Hens with 51 kills, and Alexa Swann is hitting .363 with 45 kills. Taylor Hollingsworth leads the defense with 4.85 digs per set, helping Delaware hold opponents to a .154 attack percentage. This is the first meeting between the two programs.
High Point is 5-1 entering the tournament, winning its last four, including two five-set wins. Haley Barnes leads the team with 86 kills, averaging 3.58 per set, and Molly Livingston has 60 kills with a team-high .296 attack percentage, and also has 24 blocks. Amy Pilat is averaging 3.50 digs per set. As a team, the Panthers are hitting .248, while holding opponents to a .189 attack percentage. This is the first meeting between the two programs.
NC State is 4-3 after tournaments at TCU and at Ole Miss. Julia Brown leads the Wolfpack with 3.46 kills per set, and Teni Sopitan and Kaitlyn Kearney also have more than 50 kills each, hitting .294 and .293, respectively. Rachel Eppley has a team-high 94 digs, averaging 3.76 per set, and is one of four players with more than 50 digs. Opponents are hitting .187, while the Wolfpack is hitting .224. SMU has played NC State just once before, winning 3-0 in a neutral-site match in 1999.
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 is third in the NCAA among with 1,861 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 fifth among active players with a 4.99 average. Kent State's Challen Geraghty and Wright State's Jessie Thornton hold the active career lead with 5.15 digs per set. Heise has 108 digs as a senior, leading the league with 5.40 per set.
NCAA ACTIVE CAREER DIGS LEADERS
| 1. |
Alex Beecher, Georgia Southern |
1,874 |
| 2. |
Brooke Berryhill, Tulsa |
1,867 |
| 3. |
Morgan Heise, SMU |
1,861 |
| 4. |
Allie Yamashiro, Manhattan |
1,857 |
| 5. |
Markie Schaedig, Arkansas State |
1,669 |
NCAA ACTIVE DIGS PER SET
| 1. |
Challen Geraghty , Kent St. |
5.15 |
| 2. |
Jessie Thornton , Wright St. |
5.15 |
| 3. |
Payton Harris , Mississippi St. |
5.09 |
| 4. |
Kate Klepetka , A&M-Corpus Christi |
5.00 |
| 5. |
Morgan Heise , SMU |
4.99 |
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 481 total blocks, tied for second among active career leaders. Giordano has 39 kills as a senior, hitting .299, and has 20 blocks, tied for ninth in the conference with 1.00 per set.
NCAA ACTIVE CAREER BLOCKS LEADERS
| 1. |
Whitney Young Howard, BYU |
516 |
| T-2. |
Janelle Giordano, SMU |
481 |
| T-2. |
Haleigh Nelson, Wisconsin |
481 |
| 4. |
Chidima Osuchukwu, GWU |
471 |
| 5. |
Carolee Dillard, Little Rock |
469 |
NCAA ACTIVE CAREER BLOCKS PER SET
| 1. |
Whitney Young Howard , BYU |
1.52 |
| 2. |
Amy Boswell , BYU |
1.45 |
| 3. |
Chidima Osuchukwu , GWU |
1.34 |
| 4. |
Janelle Giordano , SMU |
1.29 |
| 5. |
Carolee Dillard , Little Rock |
1.27 |
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 481 total blocks, needing 119 to pass Courtney Manning, who blocked 579 attacks from 2009-12. Heise has 1,861 digs, needing 358 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 |
481 |
| 5. |
Melissa Godwin, 1997-2000 |
443 |
SMU CAREER DIGS
| 1. |
Sideny Stewart, 2008-11 |
2,218 |
| 2. |
Morgan Heise, 2013-Present |
1,861 |
| 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 was ninth in the NCAA in assists per set, with Wisconsin's Lauren Carlini leading the country with 13.3 assists per set, after the first weekend of matches.
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. Splitting time at setter in a 6-2 rotation in the first five sets at the Arizona Invitational, Patterson is now averaging 10.0 assists per set, fifth in the league. She also has 46 digs and eight blocks.
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. Stehling has 38 kills this season with 14 blocks and six service aces.
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 as a sophomore, Hegarty also recorded 83 blocks and 44 digs. Hegarty scored at least 10 kills in five of the first six matches, finishing with nine against [RV] Arizona. The junior is third in the conference, averaging 3.85 kills per set, and leads the team with a .317 attack percentage. She recorded a career-high 23 kills against Little Rock, and has 77 kills this season.
LAUREN MILLS
Lauren Mills is second on the team with 50 kills, averaging 2.5 per set. She scored a career-high 10 kills in the final match at the Arizona Invitational with 14 digs for her first career double-double, earning all-tournament honors. The junior recorded a career high with 20 digs against UTSA at home earlier this season. She is second on the team with 71 digs, averaging 3.55 per set.
