The SMU volleyball team embarks on its final multi-match road trip of the regular season, playing at Houston Friday night before facing Tulane in New Orleans Sunday. The Mustangs then play five of their last six regular-season matches at home.
ABOUT SMU
The Mustangs are 16-7 overall, 10-2 in the American Athletic Conference. SMU won four of its last five matches since a 3-1 loss at then-No. 22 Wichita State. The loss in the stretch was a 3-1 defeat at Temple, dropping the Mustangs into a second-place tie in the conference with the Owls.
Lauren Mills leads the team and ranks seventh in The American with 3.55 kills per set. The senior also averages 3.35 digs per set, 13th in the conference, and has 14 double-doubles, second in the league.
Brittany Adams is scoring 3.10 kills per set, and was named The American's Offensive Player of the Week Monday.
Katie Hegarty returned from injury Thursday against Cincinnati, scoring 14 kills, and averages 3.05 this season.
Defensively, SMU leads the conference in digs with 17.65 per set, and is third in blocks with 2.38 per set. Freshman
Lexi Nordmann leads three Mustangs who rank in the top 15, ranking second in the conference with 1.25 blocks per set, recording 71 this season. Redshirt-freshman
Meryn Kennedy has 71 blocks in 72 sets, ranking 12th in the league with 0.99 per set, and
Kelly Brunstein has a team-high 75 blocks, ranking 14th in the conference with 0.94 per set while playing in the middle and on the right side.
Montana Watts averages 4.82 digs as the libero, ranking fifth in The American.
SCOUTING HOUSTON
The Cougars are 9-11 overall with a 5-7 record in The American after winning three of their last four matches. Houston is 7-3 at home this season. Brianna Lynch leads the team with 2.71 kills per set, and is one of three players averaging two or more kills per set. As a team, the Cougars are scoring 13.08 kills per set with a .180 attack percentage, while opponents are averaging 12.07 kills with a .190 attack percentage.
SERIES HISTORY: SMU is 18-12 all-time against Houston. The Cougars won the first meeting, 3-0, in Houston on Sept. 23, 1998, and won the first seven matches in the series until SMU picked up a 3-2 road win on Oct. 29, 2006. The Mustangs won nine of the last 10, and SMU is 8-1 against the Cougars in AAC matches, including a 3-0 win in Dallas earlier this season.
SCOUTING TULANE
The Green Wave is 13-12 overall, but 2-10 in The American, winning road matches at Tulsa and at Connecticut. Dayna Kern leads the team with 2.32 kills, and is one of five attackers averaging at least 2.0 per set. As a team, Tulane is hitting .194 with 12.66 kills per set, while opponents are scoring 12.13 per set with a .202 attack percentage.
SERIES HISTORY: SMU is 12-13 all-time against Tulane in a series that dates back to 2001. Tulane won the first meeting at home 3-0 on Sept. 7, 2001. The Mustangs have won all seven matches since Tulane joined The American in 2014, the league's second year of existence, including a 3-1 win at home earlier this season. SMU is 5-6 in matches played in New Orleans, but the Mustangs won the last three road matches.
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.
AMERICAN SUCCESS
SMU is 70-14 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.
MOODY MAGIC
The Mustangs are 188-102 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
TEAM CAPTAINS
Katie Hegarty and
Kendall Patterson were selected as team captains for the 2017 season. Team captains are elected by the players. Both players earned all-conference accolades in 2016, and led the team in their respective stat category (kills and assists).
KATIE HEGARTY
Katie Hegarty averages 3.05 kills per set, and is scoring 2.81 per set against conference opponents She missed two weeks of conference matches, her second stint of missed time due to injury. Hegarty returned to score 14 kills vs Cincinnati Thursday.
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 third in the conference with 10.08 assists per set. She has 10 double-doubles, including six in conference matches. Against league opponents this season, Patterson is fourth with 10.84 assists per set, and recorded a season-high 59 assists at East Carolina.
LAUREN MILLS
Lauren Mills leads the team and ranks seventh in the conference with 3.55 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 14 double-doubles this season, and is averaging 3.35 digs per set, 13th in the league. She earned her second conference Offensive Player of the Week award of the season 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 3.53 kills per set.
BRITTANY ADAMS
Brittany Adams is second on the team with 242 kills, ranking 10th in the conference with 3.10 per set. She earned all-tournament honors 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 eight double-doubles this season, and has scored at least 10 kills 15 times, including nine conference matches. She recorded a new career high with 19 kills at ECU, and a season-high 18 digs at Cincinnati.
RECORD-SETTING DAY
SMU set a conference and program record with 23.0 total blocks in a five-set win at Cincinnati. 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
Brittany Adams was named American Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Week after leading SMU to wins against Cincinnati and East Carolina. The junior averaged 4.14 kills per set with 29 kills in seven sets, and had a match-high 16 kills in a sweep against the Pirates. Adams scored 13 kills against the Bearcats, and scored four service aces. The Austin, Texas, native had 16 digs against Cincinnati for her eighth double-double of the season. The outside hitter finished with a .324 attack percentage against ECU, committing five errors in 34 attempts. While she finished with a .154 attack percentage against Cincinnati, Adams scored nine kills in the last two sets with just one error.
SMU PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Lauren Mills Offensive Sept. 11
Lauren Mills Offensive Sept. 25
Meryn Kennedy Defensive Oct. 2
Brittany Adams Offensive Oct. 30
ABOVE THE NET
SMU is third in The American with 2.38 blocks per set. Three players rank in the top 15 in the league, led by freshman
Lexi Nordmann, who is second with 1.25 per set.
Meryn Kennedy is 12th, averaging 0.99, and
Kelly Brunstein, who has played middle blocker and right-side hitter this season, ranks 14th in the league with 0.94 per set. SMU has blocked at least 10 attacks eight times this season, including a three-set match at Arkansas State.
LITTLE DIG TOWN
The Mustangs lead the conference and ranks 16th in the NCAA with 17.65 digs per set.
Montana Watts is sixth in the league with 4.75 digs per set, and
Lauren Mills is 13th with 3.33 digs per set. SMU eclipsed 90 in a match twice this season, with a season-high 91 in a five-set win at Texas State and 90 in a 3-1 win against UTSA. In 2015, SMU led the league with 17.39 digs per set.
