Second-Place SMU Hosts Third-Place Temple Thursday At 7 P.M.

Thursday, November 9

Dallas

7 p.m.

SMU

Temple

Second-Place SMU Hosts Third-Place Temple Thursday At 7 P.M.

Nov 7 | Volleyball

Match Notes

Mustangs Host Connecticut Saturday

SMU (18-7, 12-2 The American) vs. Temple (14-8, 10-7 The American)
Date & Time	Thursday, Nov. 9 at 7 p.m.
Location	Moody Coliseum – Dallas, Texas
Live Stats	Sidearm Stats
Live Video	PonyUp TV
Match Info	Match Notes (.pdf)
SMU vs. Connecticut (11-15, 4-10 The American)
Date & Time	Saturday, Nov. 11 at 1 p.m.
Location	Moody Coliseum –Dallas, Texas
Live Stats	Sidearm Stats
Live Video	PonyUp TV
SMU Volleyball on Social Media
Facebook	/SMUMustangs \| /SMUVolleyball
Twitter	@SMUMustangs \| @SMUVolleyball
Instagram	/SMUVolleyball

The SMU volleyball team plays five of its last six regular-season matches at home, starting the stretch Thursday against Temple in Moody Coliseum at 7 p.m. The first 150 fans to the match against the league's third-place team will receive a long-sleeve SMU volleyball t-shirt. The Mustangs face Connecticut Saturday at 1 p.m. The last clinic of the season will take place after Saturday's match.

ABOUT SMU
The Mustangs are 18-7 overall, 12-2 in the American Athletic Conference. SMU won six of its last seven matches since a 3-1 loss at then-No. 22 Wichita State. The lone loss in the stretch was a 3-1 defeat at Temple.
Lauren Mills leads the team and ranks eighth in The American with 3.45 kills per set. The senior also averages 3.39 digs per set, 13th in the conference, and has 15 double-doubles, second in the league. Brittany Adams is scoring 3.16 kills per set, 10th in the league. Katie Hegarty returned from injury against Cincinnati, scoring 14 kills, and averages 2.98 this season.
Defensively, SMU leads the conference in digs with 17.85 per set, and is second 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 82 blocks in 80 sets, ranking 11th in the league with 1.02 per set, and Kelly Brunstein has a team-high 83 blocks, ranking 14th in the conference with 0.94 per set while playing in the middle and on the right side. Montana Watts averages 4.95 digs as the libero, ranking fifth in The American. Watts was named Defensive Player of the Week in the league after averaging 6.38 digs per set against Houston and Tulane.

SCOUTING TEMPLE
The Owls are 14-8 overall, 10-4 in The American, and slipped into third place in The American after losses at Memphis and Wichita State. Temple was on a seven-match win streak before the five-set loss at Memphis. Izzy Rapacz leads the team with 3.57 kills per set, and is one of four players hitting .267 or higher. As a team, Temple is scoring 13.68 kills per set with a .244 attack percentage while opponents are hitting .190 with 12.66 kills.

SERIES HISTORY: SMU is 4-6 all-time against Temple, picking up their first win in Philadelphia with a 3-1 victory last season to secure a second straight conference championship. The Owls won the first meeting, 3-2, on Sept. 21, 2002, in Albuquerque, N.M. The two teams split the season series each of the last four seasons in The American, with 2016 being the first time neither team won at home. The Owls won the first meeting this season, 3-1, in Philadelphia.

SCOUTING CONNECTICUT
The Huskies are 11-15 overall, 4-10 in The American, after picking up a 3-2 win at Memphis Sunday to snap a five-match losing streak that started with a 3-0 loss to SMU in Storrs, Conn. Kayla Williams leads the team with 3.88 kills per set. As a team, the Huskies are hitting .190 with 12.69 kills per set, while opponents are scoring 11.55 kills with a .203 attack percentage.

SERIES HISTORY: SMU is 10-0 all-time against Connecticut. The Mustangs won the only non-conference match, 3-1, on Sept. 25, 1999, in Storrs, Conn. SMU has won each of the nine American Athletic Conference matches over the past five seasons, including the first meeting this season. SMU clinched sole possession of the conference championship with wins in the past two matches at Connecticut.

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.

20-WIN SEASONS
SMU has won at least 20 matches in a season seven times, including each of the last four. The Mustangs won a program-best 27 matches in 2015.

   YEAR   RECORD
   1999   20-13
   2003   23-7
   2010   25-6
   2013   22-9
   2014   26-6
   2015   27-6
   2016   26-8

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 2.98 kills per set, and is scoring 2.77 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.

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 10.15 assists per set. She has 12 double-doubles, including eight in conference matches. Against league opponents this season, Patterson is fourth with 10.85 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 3.45 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 15 double-doubles this season, and is averaging 3.39 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 3.36 kills per set.

BRITTANY ADAMS
Brittany Adams is second on the team with 272 kills, ranking 10th in the conference with 3.16 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 nine double-doubles this season, and has scored at least 10 kills 16 times, including 10 conference matches. She recorded a new career high with 23 kills at Houston and matched her career high with 21 digs against the Cougars.

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
Montana Watts was named American Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Week on Nov. 6. Watts recorded a career-high 38 digs in a five-set win at Houston Friday night, tied for third all-time in a match at SMU and just four shy of Sydney Stewart's record of 42. She then had 13 digs in a sweep at Tulane, holding the Green Wave to a .087 attack percentage. After averaging 6.38 digs per set on the weekend, Watts climbed to fourth in the conference, averaging 5.15 digs against league opponents.

ABOVE THE NET
SMU is second 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 11th, averaging 1.02, 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 nine times this season, including a three-set match at Arkansas State.

LITTLE DIG TOWN
The Mustangs lead the conference and rank 13th in the NCAA with 17.85 digs per set. Montana Watts is fifth in the league with 4.95 digs per set, and Lauren Mills is 13th with 3.39 digs per set. SMU eclipsed 90 in a match three times this season, with a season-high 112 in a five-set win at Houston. In 2015, SMU led the league with 17.39 digs per set.