Friday, October 6
Dallas
7 p.m.
SMU
vs
USF
Mustangs Host USF, UCF On Cancer Awareness Weekend
Oct 4 | Volleyball
| Â SMU (10-5, 4-0 The American) vs. USF (6-8, 1-3 The American) | |
| Â Date & Time | Â Friday, Oct. 6 at 7 p.m. |
|  Location |  Moody Coliseum – Dallas, Texas |
| Â Live Stats | Â Sidearm Stats |
| Â Live Video | Â PonyUp TV |
| Â Match Info | Â Match Notes (.pdf) |
| Â SMU vs. UCF (9-7, 2-2 The American) | |
| Â Date & Time | Â Sunday, Oct. 8 at 1 p.m. |
|  Location |  Moody Coliseum – Dallas, Texas |
| Â Live Stats | Â Sidearm Stats |
| Â Live Video | Â PonyUp TV |
| Â SMU Volleyball on Social Media | |
|  Facebook |  /SMUMustangs   |   /SMUVolleyball |
|  Twitter |  @SMUMustangs   |   @SMUVolleyball |
| Â Instagram | Â /SMUVolleyball |
The SMU volleyball team hosts USF Friday at 7 p.m. and UCF Sunday at 1 p.m. The Mustangs will raise funds and awareness for pediatric cancer Friday night and breast cancer Sunday. Fans are asked to wear pink to Sunday's match, while representatives of local hospitals will be on site to collect donations for research and treatments. The Mustangs will wear pink jerseys that will be auctioned during Sunday's match.
ABOUT SMU
The Mustangs are 4-0 in the American Athletic Conference, 10-5 overall, after a pair of five-set wins at ECU and Cincinnati. SMU is second in the league, averaging 13.67 kills per set, led by Lauren Mills, who ranks fourth in the league with 3.70 kills per set. The senior is also fourth in conference matches, averaging a team-high 4.06 per set. SMU has three of the top 12 attackers in league play, with Brittany Adams 10th, averaging 3.24 kills per set, and Katie Hegarty is 12th with 3.06.Â
Defensively, SMU is second in league matches with 2.59 blocks per set, and fourth with 17.18 digs per set. Meryn Kennedy jumped to second with 1.41 blocks per set and has a league-best 24.0 blocks in 17 sets against league opponents. The freshman had 12 blocks at Cincinnati to lead SMU to a conference-record setting 23 total blocks. Kelly Brunstein also had 10 blocks in the win against the Bearcats.Â
SCOUTING USF
The Bulls are 6-8 overall, 1-3 in The American, after a 3-2 win at Memphis for their first conference win. USF has lost three of its last five matches after winning three of four. Priscilla Ehieze leads the team with 115 kills, averaging 2.35 per set, and Reagan Davey and Clara Payne have also eclipsed the century mark this season. The Bulls are hitting .194 as a team, while opponents are hitting .206.
Series History: SMU is 6-3 all-time against USF, winning six of the last seven. However, two of the Bulls' three wins came in Dallas. USF won the first meeting between the two programs, 3-1, in Tampa, Fla., on Sept. 7, 2002. The Bulls won the first conference match, played on Oct. 18, 2013, a 3-2 victory in Dallas. SMU won both matches in four sets last season.
SCOUTING UCF
The Knights are 9-7 overall, 2-2 in The American, with a pair of five-set wins in league play. UCF won the first set against then-No. 25 Wichita State before losing 3-1 in its most recent match. Kia Bright leads the team with 224 kills, averaging 3.61 per set, and is one of four players with at least 100 kills this season. As a team, the Knights are hitting .224, while holding opponents to a .197 attack percentage.Â
Series History: SMU is 13-5 overall against UCF, with the two programs competing in the same conference since 2005. SMU won the first meeting, 3-1, on Oct. 4, 2005. The Mustangs won the last four matches over the last two seasons, going on to win the conference championship each year. The Knights won both matches in the 2014 season, en route to the league championship. SMU is 6-2 at home against UCF.Â
KATIE HEGARTY
Katie Hegarty scored 461 kills last season, the most by an SMU player since Rachel Giubilato finished with a program-record 568 during the 2006 season. Hegarty's 461 kills ranked fifth in the conference last season and is fifth in a season all-time at SMU. She posted the league's first triple-double and the sixth in program history with 22 kills, 12 digs and a career-high 10 blocks against Tulane. The Aztec, N.M., native had four other double-doubles, finishing the season with 197 digs and 97 blocks. The senior started the 2017 season with 21 kills against Mississippi State, and was averaging 3.67 per set before suffering an injury. She returned to score 19 kills against Tulane with a .351 attack percentage. Through four conference matches, Hegarty has 52 kills, averaging 3.06 per set.
KENDALL PATTERSON
Kendall Patterson led the American Athletic Conference with 1,325 assists, averaging 10.95 per set, during her first season on the Hilltop, earning the league's Freshman of the Year Award. As a sophomore, Patterson is second in the conference with 9.83 assists per set. She has seven double-doubles, including three in four conference matches. Against league opponents this season, Patterson is averaging 11.24 assists per set, and recorded a season-high 59 assists at East Carolina.Â
LAUREN MILLS
Lauren Mills leads the team and ranks fourth in the conference with 3.70 kills per set this season. The senior scored a career-high 27 kills in a 3-1 win against UTSA, matching the SMU single-match record for a four-set match. Her 27 kills is tied for fifth all-time in a match at SMU, and the record is 33, set by Rachel Giubilato on Oct. 3, 2006 against Stephen F. Austin. Mills has a league-best 10 double-doubles this season, and is averaging 3.35 digs per set, 12th in the league. She earned her second conference Offensive Player of the Week award after leading The American with 34 kills in the first two league matches, recording double-doubles against Tulane and Houston. In conference play, Mills is scoring 4.06 kills per set with a .242 attack percentage.
BRITTANY ADAMS
Brittany Adams is second on the team with 157 kills, ranking eighth in the conference with 3.14 per set. She earned her first all-tournament honor at Texas State, matching her then-career high with 18 kills against Texas State. She also had 17 digs in one of two double-doubles at the tournament. Adams has six double-doubles this season, and has scored at least 10 kills 10 times, including all four conference matches. She recorded a new career high with 19 kills at ECU, and a season-high 18 digs at Cincinnati. In league play, she is hitting .209 with 3.24 kills per set.Â
RECORD-SETTING DAY
SMU set a conference and program record with 23.0 total blocks in a five-set win at Cincinnati Sunday. Freshman Meryn Kennedy led the defense with 12 blocks (1 BS, 11 BA), and junior Kelly Brunstein posted 10 (5 BS, 5 BA), both career highs. Kennedy is tied for sixth in a match at SMU with the fourth highest block total recorded by a Mustang, while Bruntein's five solo blocks is tied for second. She is just the third Mustang with five solo blocks in a match.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Meryn Kennedy was named The American Defensive Player of the Week. The redshirt freshman recorded 12 blocks Sunday against Cincinnati to help the Mustangs set a conference and program record with 23.0 total blocks. Kennedy scored a career-high 20 kills to lead the Mustangs at East Carolina. She also had 11 digs in the two matches, and averaged 1.50 blocks per set on the weekend.
RALLY FOR HURRICANE RELIEF
The SMU volleyball program is asking fans to bring items to donate to victims of Hurricane Harvey to each of its next four home matches. The Mustangs will donate the items to a distribution center in Houston prior to SMU's match at Houston Nov. 3. Requested items include, but are not limited to, new clothes, baby diapers and formula, toiletries, water and non-perishable food items.
BACK-TO-BACK CHAMPS
SMU successfully defended its American Athletic Conference championship, going 18-2 against league opponents. After going 17-3 in 2015 for the program's first title, the Mustangs won 11 of their first 12 conference matches in 2016 and never dropped below at least tied for first all season. For the second straight season, SMU clinched sole possession of the championship with a win at Connecticut (3-1), this time in the last match of the regular season.Â
AMERICAN SUCCESS
SMU is 68-14 in American Athletic Conference matches since the league's inception four seasons ago. The Mustangs finished runner-up behind champions Louisville and UCF in the first two years before winning back-to-back championships. SMU players have earned 19 all-conference awards, one conference Player of the Year award, one Freshman of the Year award and five yearly awards for position. Lisa Seifert was also named conference Coach of the Year in 2015. With 18 conference wins in 2016, SMU matched the conference record for league wins.
NCAA VICTORY
The Mustangs advanced to the NCAA Tournament, playing in the first round at Texas for the second straight year. SMU swept Texas A&M (25-23, 25-23, 25-18) for its first NCAA victory in the program's first match against the Aggies. Katie Hegarty scored a match-high 14 kills, and Kendall Patterson posted her 12th double-double of the season with 36 assists and 10 digs. The SMU defense held Texas A&M to a .177 attack percentage, recording 10 blocks and 51 digs. SMU was eliminated in the second round by national runner-up No. 4 Texas.
POSTSEASON AWARDS
Five Mustangs earned All-American Athletic Conference honors, with Katie Hegarty, Janelle Giordano and Morgan Heise named to the first team, while Kendall Patterson and Kristen Stehling earned second-team accolades. Heise earned her third straight conference Libero of the Year award and a selection on the AVCA All-America Honorable Mention list for the second straight season. Hegarty, Heise and Giordano also earned selections to the AVCA All-Region team. Patterson was tabbed as The American's Freshman of the Year.Â
MOODY MAGIC
The Mustangs are 186-102 all-time in home matches and 176-100 in matches played at Moody Coliseum. Since the renovation to Moody Coliseum in 2014, SMU is 42-11 in home matches over four seasons, including a program-best 15-1 record in Moody in 2014. SMU clinched what at the time was at least a share of its first conference championship with a 3-1 win against Houston in front of its home fans on Nov. 15, 2015. SMU won 12 straight home matches during the 2015 season.
Players Mentioned
Outside Hitter
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Middle Blocker
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Middle Blocker
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Opposite Hitter
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Libero
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Middle Blocker
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Outside Hitter
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Setter
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Middle Blocker
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