SMU (5-1) at USD Invitational | San Diego, Calif. | Hosted by San Diego
Friday at No. 12 San Diego, 2 p.m. | Stadium | WCC Network | Live Stats
Friday vs. Utah, 7 p.m. | Live Stats
Saturday vs UCONN, 5 p.m. | Live Stats
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The Mustangs venture outside the Lone Star State for the first time in 2022 Friday to compete in the USD Invitational, hosted by No. 12 San Diego.
 
After winning the Islanders Classic, SMU carries momentum into the third tournament of the season ahead of its matchup with the Toreros at 2 p.m. Friday. The Mustangs tangle with Utah, which ranked 22^nd in the American Volleyball Coaches Association preseason poll at 5 p.m. Friday, before wrapping up their tournament against UCONN at 5 p.m. Saturday.
 
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 is 5-0 when they win the first set, with four of the five matches being sweeps. The lone exception is the five-set contest against DePaul.
• The 5-1 start to the season equals 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.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES
 
No. 12 San Diego (1-0)
•  The lone meeting was a 3-1 decision over the 18th-ranked Toreros at the UC Santa Barbara Invitational Sept. 12, 2015.
 
RV UTAH (0-6)
•  This is the seventh match between SMU and the Utes but the first since Sept. 3, 1999. The teams clashed six times in the first three seasons of the Mustangs program, with Utah having its way, winning 18 of the 21 sets played.
 
UCONN (13-0)
•  Former conference foes meet on the court Saturday, with the Mustangs looking to remain undefeated against the Huskies. This is the first meeting since UCONN left the AAC. SMU earned a 3-0 home victory Oct. 20, 2019.
 
A LOOK AT THE OPPONENTS
No. 12 San Diego
• The Toreros are off to a hot start, winning four of their first five matches, with the only setback a 3-1 decision at No. 3 Louisville in the Cardinals tournament Sept. 2.
• San Diego opened the campaign winning the Texas A&M Invitational, defeating No. 6 Pitt in five sets before sweeping the host Aggies and Hawaii.
•  After falling to Louisville, the Toreros registered a 3-0 triumph over No. 8 Ohio State.
•  San Diego ranks in the top 100 in the nation in assists per set (12.33), hitting percentage (.240) and kills per set (13.06)
•  Leyla Blackwell leads the team in blocks, rejecting 1.78 attacks per set, placing fourth in the nation.
•  Grace Frohling (3.39), Katie Lukes (3.22) and Breana Edwards  (3.18) pace the offense with over three kills each per game.
•  Gabby Blossom, the quarterback of the offense averages 10.89 assists per set. Her 53 digs rank second on the squad.
•  Madi Allen has seven of the team's 25 aces, three better than Blossom and Alex Hoglund, which have four each.
 
Utah
• The Utes were No. 22 in the AVCA preseason poll before falling to No. 23 Kansas in the season opening Utah Classic 3-1. The loss was bookended by 3-0 sweeps over Loyola Marymount and Utah Valley.
• Once again, Utah fell in the middle match of a tournament the second week of the season, dropping a five-setter at No. 11 Purdue in the Boilermakers tournament. The Utes opened with a 3-2 triumph over Milwaukee and closed with a sweep of Bradley.
•  Utah ranks 35th in the country in kills per set (13.78), and 41st in total kills (317). Other top-100 ranks include assists (285) and assists per set (12.39) at 57 and hitting percentage (.254) at 64.
•  Madelyn Robinson's 98 kills and 4.26 average places her 18th and 35th nationally.
•  Emily Smith directs the offense, handing out 215 of the team's 285 helpers, while her seven service aces lead the squad.
•  On defense, the Utes have four in double figures in blocks, led by Amelia van der Werff's 17. She's followed by Allie Olsen (15), Ashley West (11) and Lauren Jardine (10).
•  KJ Burgess (9) and Madelyn Robinson (8) are on the verge of reaching double figures.
•  Kamry Bailey and Robinson are first and second with 64 and 61 digs, respectively.
 
UCONN
• The Huskies first four matches concluded in 3-0 decisions, earning victories over Duquesne Aug. 27, at the Penn State Classic and Sept. 2 at the Army Invitational.
• Their setbacks happened in the season opener at Penn State Aug. 26, in the Nittany Lions event and Sept. 3 to No. 3 Kansas at the Army Invitational. They fell to the Black Knights Sept. 3, 3-1.
• UCONN ranks outside the top 150 in all statistical categories as a team.
•  Jasmine Davis leads the team with 38 kills - a 2.38 average. Her eight services aces pace the team.
•  Madi Whitmire owns the highest hitting percentage among qualifiers at .303, while she's registered 147 of the squad's 171 assists.
•  Karly Berkland paces the Huskies with 61 digs and a 3.81 average.
•  Taylor Pannell holds the mark with 17 blocks, while Kennadie Jake-Turner has 12 and Allie Garland rejected 11 attacks.
 
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.
 
Welcome to the Club
• 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 studying 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).
 
1. Lisa Seifert (Volleyball)                              441
2. Rhonda Rompola (Women's Basketball)      439
3. Carl Neufeld (Men's Tennis)                         420
 
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.