No. 23 SMU (1-0-0) at. No. 11 Tennessee (0-1-0)
Regal Soccer Stadium – Knoxville, Tennessee
Sunday, Aug. 21, 2022, 12 p.m. CT
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DALLAS (SMU) – The No. 23 SMU women's soccer team is set to face 2021 SEC Champion No. 11 Tennessee on Sunday in its first road test of the fall season.

Last Time Out
The Mustangs (1-0) enter Sunday's match riding a 2-1 victory over Rice on Thursday. After falling into a 1-0 deficit early in the affair, graduate senior transfer Julissa Cisneros delivered the one-all equalizer in the 19^th minute. At 65', veteran midfielder Courtney Sebazco delivered a solo game-winner from outside the box to lift SMU toward its first win of the season.

Scouting Tennessee
The No. 11 Lady Vols (0-1) host SMU in their home opener on Sunday following a 3-0 loss at No 10 North Carolina on Thursday.
The Tennessee offense was led by sophomore Taylor Huff, posting four shots on goal. In the goal, redshirt-freshman Ally Zazzara made six saves in her collegiate debut, starting in place of senior Lindsey Romig who was unavailable due to illness.

Tennessee opens 2022 following a record-breaking season, concluding with an SEC title, and a run to the NCAA Round of 16, which ended in a 3-0 defeat at the hands of No. 9 Michigan.

A 20-win season for the Volunteers in 2021 marks the most single-season wins in program history. The 2021 Lady Vols closed the season 11th nationally in scoring offense (2.61) and total assists (55), while posting top ten figures in total goals (60) and total points (175).

All-Time Against Tennessee
The Mustangs have faced Tennessee only once in program history, a 1-0 SMU victory in 1996 in Nashville.

Returning Mustangs
• The Mustangs return 20 players from the 2021 season.

• Of the 18 returners, 9 saw play time in 2021.

• Returning Mustangs account for 21 of 28 goals scored (75%), 14 of 23 assists made (61%), and
52 of 79 points accrued (66%) throughout the 2021 season.

• SMU returns both of its veteran goalkeepers Samantha Estrada and Tatum Sutherland.

New Mustangs
• SMU added nine freshman and three transfer additions to its roster for 2022.

• Mayu Inokawa, a sophmore midfielder transfer from Iowa Western Community College hailing from Saitama, Japan, joins three other Mustangs who originate from outside the United States (Wayny Balata - Montreal, Quebec; Elizabeth Tse - Quebec City, Quebec; Jordina Colomer - Manlleu, Catalunya, Spain).

• Three 2022 additions are Dallas-area natives - USF transfer Hannah Wrigley (Lewisville); freshman Peyton Annen (Plano); freshman Jen Jackson (Dallas).

Coaches Corner
• Head coach Nicole Nelson opened her inaugural season on Aug. 18 against Rice, starting 1-0 as the Mustangs' head coach.

• Nelson spent eight seasons as an associate head coach and assistant coach for the Mustangs from 2012-2019 under previous head coach Chris Petrucelli.

• Prior to her time on the Hilltop, Nelson served as head coach at Oklahoma (2007-11), assistant coach under Petrucelli at Texas (2006-07), recruiting coordinator/assistant coach at Baylor (2005), and head coach at Stephen F. Austin (2002-04).

2022 AAC All-Preseason Team
Senior Wayny Balata and graduate senior Courtney Sebazco of the SMU women's soccer team were named to the 2022 American Athletic Conference All-Preseason team.

Balata, serving at midfield for the Mustangs, put together a career campaign in her junior season, finding the back of the net six times and adding two assists. Six goals on the season was a team-best, and the fifth-most in the league.

Sebazco proved to be a critical component of the Mustang offense last season, totaling four goals and four assists in 2021. The midfielder opened the fall with a two-goal performance in SMU's 2-0 shutout against eventual Southland Conference champion Northwestern State (8/22), and earned goals against Rice (9/12) and East Carolina (9/23).

2022 AAC Preseason Coaches Poll
 

1	Memphis (6)	62
2	South Florida (1)	52
3	SMU	48
	UCF (1)	48
5	Cincinnati	33
	Houston (1)	33
7	Temple	20
8	East Carolina	19
9	Tulsa	10

 
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