Box Score (PDF)
WICHITA, Kan. – SMU overcame a 0-2 deficit and won the final three sets to secure a 3-2 (19-25, 18-25, 25-23, 25-13, 15-12) American Athletic Conference victory at Wichita State on Wednesday evening. The Mustangs had a big night from Jadyn Bauss who finished with a game-high 19 kills, while Jamison Wheeler matched her personal-bests with 16 kills and 18 digs.

Kaylyn Winkler added 11 kills, one solo block, and three block assists to help pace SMU (17-12, 13-6 AAC). Hannah Jacobs also added double-digit kills (10) for the offense. Defensively, SMU was tough once again as Bria' Merchant led the Mustangs with 19 digs, and two others reached double figures in this stat line. Zairyn Hemsley completed another double-double with 49 assists and 14 digs. Makayla Miller dug up 12 balls as SMU has now won eight of its last 10 matches.

Head Coach Lisa Seifert has been the only coach in the program's history after she started the team in 1996. Tonight, Coach Seifert became the all-time wins leader at SMU with the victory over WSU. The program's first win came against Wichita State and today Coach Seifert set the all-time wins record (440) with a five-set thriller over the Shockers.

After taking the first two sets, Wichita State (18-10, 12-7 AAC) once again came out with an early lead 10-9 in the third set. The Shockers later pushed this lead out to 14-11. SMU was finally able to knot the set up at 20-20 after chipping away. Tied at 23, SMU finally broke through taking the final two points after a kill by Winkler and an attack error by the Shockers to keep the match alive.  

SMU used the late rally in the third set to swing the momentum and jumped out to a 14-4 advantage in the fourth. SMU never allowed WSU to get close as the Mustangs hit .519 and limited the Shockers to a .129 clip to force a pivotal fifth set. SMU kept the momentum going in the fifth set with a 5-3 lead. Wichita State tied the set up at six with kills from Sophia Rohling and Morgan Stout. Knotted at 8-8, the Mustangs used a 3-0 scoring run to retake a solid lead as Winkler and Jacobs notched kills along the way. WSU cut the lead down to one (13-12) after consecutive attack errors, but back-to-back kills by Jacobs became the difference as SMU came all the way back to grab the conference victory.  

SMU improves to 4-1 in five-set matches on the season.

Natalie Foster led the Shockers with 17 kills, while Lily Liekweg added 22 digs for WSU.

UP NEXT
SMU will finish out the regular season on Friday, November 26 at Tulsa. First serve is scheduled for 12:00 p.m. on ESPN+.