SMU at Cincinnati | Cincinnati, Ohio
Friday, 5 p.m. | ESPN+ | Live Stats
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The Mustangs open their American Athletic Conference road slate Friday at Cincinnati. First serve is set for 6 p.m. ET/5 p.m. CT.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES
   This is the 15^th meeting between the Mustangs and Cincinnati, with SMU holding a 10-4 advantage.
   The two teams split the eight matches played in Cincinnati.
   SMU fell 3-1 on the Bearcats home floor Oct. 3, 2021, marking the third loss in succession on the road in the series.
 
LAST TIME OUT
    SMU closed its homestand with a 3-1 (19-25, 25-17, 25-13, 26-24) triumph over Memphis Wednesday at Moody Coliseum.
 
Sparked by double-doubles from Jadyn Bauss and Marieke van der Mark, the Mustangs continued their dominance over the Tigers. SMU improved to 15-1 on its home floor in the all-time series, extending its winning streak on the Hilltop to 14 in a row.
 
The Mustangs recovered from a sluggish start, quickly erasing a 1-0 deficit and grabbing control of the match by winning the next two. They withstood a late push and needed extra points in the fourth to secure the victory.

SMU held the Tigers to 13 points in the third set - the fewest by any opponent this season.
 
Bauss tallied 13 kills, 18 digs, three blocks and three assists, netting the 23^rd double-double of her career and the first this season. The three blocks equaled a career best.

van der Mark recorded her first career double-double with 14 kills and 10 digs. The 10 digs set a new personal best and she reached double-digits in kills for the sixth time this season, including five in the last six contests.

Jamison Wheeler notched 15 kills and seven digs, while Celia Cullen assisted on 44 of the Mustangs kill, with eight digs and two aces. Donning the libero jersey, Tatum Ticknor totaled 18 digs and three helpers.

BEARCATS LAST MATCH
Cincinnati dropped a four-set decision at Houston on Sunday, the Bearcats first conference loss of the season. In the first three sets, six points separated the two teams, mostly due to performances at the serving line. The Cougars dropped in 10 aces, while the Bearcats mustered only two. 

Carly Glendinning tallied a match-high 19 kills, the most in her rookie campaign. Shaye Eggleston netted a double-double, with 10 kills and 13 digs. Payton Frederick  and Kerstin Ficker finished with double-digit digs each.

TOURNAMENT PLAY
     SMU won the Islanders Classic with a 3-0 mark and posted a winning mark at three of the four early season events, with the two wins in Lubbock.
 
COLLECTING HONORS
    Natalie Perdue became the sixth different mustang to earn All-Tournament team accolades with her performance at the Red Raider Classic. She totaled 51 kills, 27 digs and seven blocks over the three matches.
 
RECORD DAY VS. UCONN
    Natalie Perdue set career highs with 25 kills and 12 digs.
    Jamison Wheeler posted a personal best 24 kills and added 10 digs.
    Cecelia Cullen handed out 61 assists, six more than her previous high, which she set at Michigan State.
    Jadyn Bauss established new marks in digs and assists for the former outside hitter turned defensive specialist. She tallied 32 digs and issued four helpers.
  
ISLANDERS CLASSIC SWEEP
    The Mustangs swept all three matches en route to the tournament title at the Islanders Classic, hosted by Texas A&M - Corpus Christi Sept. 2-3.
    SMU's streak of holding opponents under 20 points ended at seven when the Islanders tallied 21 in the second set.
    The Mustangs prevented Sam Houston and Indiana from reaching 20 points, defeating the Bearkats 25-14, 25-15, 25-15. The Hoosiers fell 25-19 in all three games.
    Marieke van der Mark and Celia Cullen earned all-tournament team honors for their performances.
 
FAST START
    SMU went 5-1 over the first six matches when it won the first set, with four ending in sweeps. The lone exception came against DePaul, which went five sets.
    The 5-1 start to the season equaled the second best for the Mustangs, which accomplished the feat six other times. Only the 2007 squad won their first six contests to open the campaign.
 
DOUBLETREE INVITATIONAL
    SMU hosted its annual early season tournament and opened the campaign with a sweep of UC Irvine, before finishing day one with a thrilling 3-2 victory over DePaul.
    SFA won the event with a 3-1 win over the Mustangs in the finale.
    Alex Glover and Jamison Wheeler collected all-tournament honors.
 
A WOULFE IN THE HOUSE
Senior Rachel Woulfe scored the first two points for the Mustangs against SFA and became the 14th member of the program to reach 1,000 kills in their career.
 
SCHEDULE BY THE NUMBERS
   The Mustangs will play 32 regular season matches, with 20 American Athletic Conference matchups and 12 against non-conference opponents.
   All matches against non-AAC foes are part of four tournaments.
   Of the 32 contests, 20 are in The Lone Star State, while the other 12 take place in nine different states.
 
NEW CREW
   Sam Erger was named the second head coach in the program's history Feb. 2, 2022, after spending the previous eight years at Baylor, including the last two as associate head coach.
   Erger named Trent Sorensen associate head coach and Benjamin Bahr assistant coach in February.
   Sorensen spent the previous seven seasons in Manhattan, Kan., as an assistant coach with the Kansas State volleyball team.
   Bahr served as technical supervisor for the U.S. Women's National Team Open Tryouts in 2020 and as a volunteer video analyst while and undergraduate at Iowa.
 
FRESH FACES
   The Mustangs welcome eight newcomers to the Hilltop, including six transfers and two freshmen.
   Freshmen Casey Batenhorst and Jentry Lamirand join the veteran-laden roster.
   Celia Cullen (Michigan State) and Marieke van der Mark (Baylor) transferred to SMU without ties to the Metroplex.
 
NO PLACE LIKE HOME
   After leaving home to begin their collegiate career, London Austin-Roark, Kristen Leland, Natalie Perdue and Tatum Ticknor returned home after beginning their careers elsewhere.
   Austin-Roark (Weatherford, Texas/Weatherford HS) made 79 appearances in four seasons in for Texas A&M.
   Kristen Leland (Dallas/Episcopal School of Dallas) played in 86 games for the Cavaliers before leaving Charlottesville, Va.
   Perdue (Dallas/Richardson HS) spent a year in Fayetteville, Ark., before choosing to return home.
   Ticknor (Grapevine, Texas/Colleyville Heritage HS) registered 2,077 digs for Arkansas State in four seasons.
 
27TH SEASON
   SMU is in its 27th season of NCAA competition.
   Former Head Coach Lisa Seifert started the program in 1995, with the Mustangs finishing the inaugural season of competition with a mark of 7-24 in 1996. In 1999, SMU celebrated its first winning season with a 20-13 record.
   The Mustangs competed as an independent the first two seasons before moving to the Western Athletic Conference in 1998.
   From 2004-2012, SMU played in Conference USA before moving to the American Athletic Conference prior to the 2013 campaign.
 
REPLACING A LEGEND
• Lisa Seifert, who started the program and holds the SMU record for most coaching wins across all sports, announced her retirement in January. She posted 15 seasons with a winning percentage of .500 or higher, including eight of her final 10 seasons. Her teams won at least 20 games eight times, including five-straight from 2013-2019. The 2015 squad posted a school-best in wins and winning percentage with a mark of 27-6 (.818).  
FILLING THE TROPHY CASE
Over the past seven seasons, SMU added four team trophies to the case, along with seven individual top league awards. SMU won The American championship in 2015 and 2016, and the west division crown in 2019. Avery Acker was named Setter of the Year in 2013. She added Player of the Year and another Setter of the Year in 2015. Kendall Patterson was Freshman of the Year in 2016, when Morgan Heise earned her second Libero of the Year honor. Lily Heim was named Setter of the Year in 2019.
 
TOP OF THE CLASS
Of the 11 current members, SMU is the only program without a losing record in league matches during at least one season. The Mustangs and UCF are the only two programs with multiple conference titles. (SMU-2015 and 2016; UCF- 2014, 2018, 2019, 2021.)
 
BOLD: Big Opportunities Live in Dallas
As part of its goal of Shaping Champions and preparing students for life, SMU Athletics proudly announces the addition of its BOLD (Big Opportunities Live in Dallas) Program to its suite of student-athlete development tools, with the goal of helping student-athletes navigate and capitalize on new Name, Image, Likeness (NIL) legislation.
 
BOLD provides SMU student-athletes with the means to navigate the evolving NIL landscape. The BOLD program will incorporate INFLCR, a comprehensive NIL education and compliance solution, and campus resources from the Cox School of Business, the Dedman School of Law, and the Meadows School of the Arts.