Volleyball Begins Title Defense At Home Friday And Saturday With SMU DoubleTree Invitational

Friday, August 25

Dallas

12:30 p.m.

SMU

Mississippi State

VB 2017 Team w Trophies In Front of Moody

Volleyball Begins Title Defense At Home Friday And Saturday With SMU DoubleTree Invitational

Aug 23 | Volleyball

Mustangs To Face Mississippi State, Rice and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi In Opening Tournament

SMU (0-0, 0-0 The American) vs. Mississippi State (0-0, 0-0 SEC)
Date & Time	Friday, Aug. 25 at 12:30 p.m.
Location	Moody Coliseum – Dallas, Texas
Live Stats	SIDEARM Stats
Live Video	PonyUp TV
Tournament Info	Tournament Notes (.pdf)
Tournament Central	Tournament Central
SMU vs. Rice (0-0, 0-0 C-USA)
Date & Time	Friday, Aug. 25 at 7 p.m.
Location	Moody Coliseum – Dallas, Texas
Live Stats	SIDEARM Stats
Live Video	PonyUp TV
SMU vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (0-0, 0-0 Southland)
Date & Time	Saturday, Aug. 26 at 2:30 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 begins its second straight American Athletic Conference title defense Friday and Saturday, hosting the SMU DoubleTree Invitational in Moody Coliseum against Mississippi State, Rice and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. The Mustangs will play their first match of the tournament against Mississippi State Friday at 12:30 p.m., following the 10 a.m. match between Rice and TAMU-CC.
Friday night's match at 7 p.m. against Rice will feature a championship banner reveal before the match. SMU will conclude the opening tournament Saturday at 2:30 p.m. against TAMU-CC. The weekend will also feature a championship ring ceremony.

ABOUT SMU
SMU returns four starters, including AVCA All-Region honoree Katie Hegarty and the AAC Freshman of the Year Kendall Patterson. Both players were named to The American All-Preseason team, with Hegarty ranking fifth in the league with 461 kills in 2016. Patterson led the league with 10.95 assists per set. Lauren Mills had 11 double-doubles last season, scoring 304 kills, second on the team last season, and 354 digs, most among returners. Brittany Adams is also a returning starter who scored 203 kills as a sophomore in 2016.

ABOUT MISSISSIPPI STATE
The Bulldogs have just three letterwinners back from a 2016 team that went 14-18 in 2016 with a 6-12 mark in the SEC. Jelena Vujcin scored 318 kills, third on the squad last season, and Payton Harris led the team with 348 digs. Khris Carr also played in 10 sets with seven kills.

ABOUT RICE
The Owls return five starters and 10 letterwinners from a team that went 20-12 in 2016, with a 10-4 record in Conference USA. The top two attackers graduated, but Portia Okafor scored 219 kills and led the team with 136 blocks, while McKay Kyle and Shelby Livingstone each cleared the century mark in kills. Lee Ann Cunningham led the team with 511 digs as a freshman last year.

ABOUT TEXAS A&M-CORPUS CHRISTI
The Islanders also start the season as back-to-back conference champions, winning the Southland Conference for the second straight time. TAMU-CC has five starters returing, including Brittany Gilpin, who led the team with 403 kills. All five returning starters scored at least 100 kills in 2016, and Madison Fitzsimmons led the team with 98 blocks.

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 64-14 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.

RECEIVING VOTES
SMU is receiving votes in the AVCA Top 25 Coaches Preseason Poll for the first time in program history. The Mustangs first received votes in the top-25 poll on Aug. 30, 2010, and this is the fourth straight season SMU has earned votes in at least one weekly poll.

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 182-96 all-time in home matches and 172-94 in matches played at Moody Coliseum. Since the renovation to Moody Coliseum in 2014, SMU is 40-5 in home matches over three 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, and the Mustangs are currently on a seven-match home win streak dating back to a 3-1 win against Tulsa on Oct. 12, 2016.

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 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.

SMU SINGLE-SEASON KILLS
1.   Rachel Giubilato (2006 - 122 sets)   568
2.   Erin Pryor (1997 - 126 sets)   473
3.   Kelly Klecka (2000 - 108 sets)   469
4.   Erin Pryor (1999 - 120 sets)   466
5.   Katie Hegarty (2016 - 121 sets)   461
6.   Beth Karasek (2004 - 98 sets)   453

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. The league's Freshman of the Year recorded 12 double-doubles, including a career-high 26 digs and 49 assists against Tulane. She finished the year with 308 digs and 42 blocks. Patterson recorded a career-high 54 assists against Cincinnati, and eclipsed 50 three times. She also led the team with 38 service aces.

SMU SINGLE-SEASON ASSISTS
1.   Avery Acker (2015 - 119 sets)   1,482
2.   Leslie Olson (1997 - 126 sets)   1,445
3.   Jessica Mihm (2003 - 114 sets)   1,444
4.   Avery Acker (2014 - 121 sets)   1,413
5.   Tara Hatfield (2000 - 103 sets)   1,411
6.    Jessica Mihm (2002 - 108 sets)   1,326
T-7.   Kelli Becerra (2010 - 124 sets)   1,325
T-7.   Kendall Patterson (2016 - 121 sets)   1,325
T-9.   Leslie Olson (1999 - 100 sets)   1,258

LAUREN MILLS
Lauren Mills had 11 double-doubles last season, scoring 304 kills, second on the team in 2016. The senior is the leading returner in digs with 354 a year ago. She scored a career-high 19 kills in a four-set win at USF, and reached double figures 14 times. Mills had at least 10 digs 20 times, including six straight matches to finish the season, and recorded a career-high 20 digs against UTSA.

BRITTANY ADAMS
Brittany Adams scored 203 kills as a sophomore in 2016, including a career-high 18 kills in a four-set win at Temple. She posted a double-double with 17 kills and 12 digs at home against Temple. Admas had at least 10 kills four times and recorded 12 digs twice, also reaching double figures against Montana. She accounted for at least 10 points six times, finishing the year with 49 blocks and three service aces.

DEFENSE WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS
SMU led the American Athletic Conference in opponent hitting percentage at .172, ranking second in the league in blocks per set with 2.20 behind Cincinnati's 2.22 per set. SMU had a league-best 266.5 total blocks, led by Janelle Giordano's league-high 162 blocks. SMU was fourth in the league with 2,032 digs, averaging 16.79 per set. Tulsa led the league with 2,293 digs, averaging 18.34. Morgan Heise led the conference with 5.17 per set, and was second with 626 digs, trailing Tulsa's Brooke Berryhill with 629.

BUILDING BLOCKS
SMU will feature new faces in the middle of the net after the graduation of all-conference middle blockers Janelle Giordano and Kristen Stehling. Giordano finished her career as the all-time leader at SMU with 623 blocks, and Stehling had 89 during her senior season. Junior Kelly Brunstein played in nine sets last year with four blocks. Freshmen Meryn Kennedy and Lexi Nordmann will also compete for playing time. Kennedy was redshirted last season after scoring 194 kills with 135 blocks as a senior at Allen High School. Nordmann was an Under Armour All-America second-team selection as a senior at Dewitt High School in Dewitt, Mich.