SMU Volleyball Set For NCAA Tournament

SMU (25-6; 18-1 AAC) vs. Texas State (20-9, 12-4 SBC)
Thursday, Nov. 30 I 4 PM CT. I Gregory Gymnasium- Austin, Texas
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Match Notes (PDF)
2023 NCAA Tournament Bracket
Texas State I Texas I Texas A&M
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SETTING THE SCENE
-SMU earned a No. 7 in the 2023 NCAA Tournament and will travel to Austin, Texas, to take on Texas State in the first round on Thursday at 4 p.m. CT.
-If the Mustangs defeat the Bobcats, they would face the winner of Texas and Texas A&M on Friday at 7 p.m.
-All matches can be streamed on ESPN+, with live stats accessible at SMUMustangs.com/volleyball.
-The Mustangs swept North Texas 3-0 (25-18, 25-13, 27-25) to clinch the outright American Athletic Conference Championship on Nov. 18 in Moody Coliseum. The Mustangs claimed their third conference title and first since the 2016 season.
-It's the Mustangs third appearance in the tournament and the first since 2016. SMU swept Texas A&M in the first round in 2016.
-SMU finished league play with the best conference winning percentage in program history (.947). The Mustangs are riding a 15-match win streak and enter the NCAA tournament after nine straight sweeps.

A LOOK AT THE OPPONENTS
Texas State
Texas State is 20-9 overall and finished 12-4 in the Sun Belt Conference. The Bobcats fell to James Madison in a five-set battle in the SBC Championship. Texas State finished its non-conference slate with a 7-4 record.
Texas
Texas is 22-4 overall and were crowned Big 12 Champions after finishing 17-4 in league play. The reigning National Champions enter the NCAA Tournament as winners of 17 out of their last 18 matches.
Texas A&M
Texas A&M enters the NCAA Tournament with 16-12 overall record including an 8-10 mark in league play. The Aggies fell to Alabama on Nov. 25 in their last time out.

ALL-TIME SERIES
Texas State (4-2)
Thursday will be the seventh all-time meeting between the Mustangs and the Bobcats. Most recently, SMU defeated Texas State in five sets on Sept. 8, 2017.
Texas (1-4)
SMU is 1-4 all-time against Texas. SMU swept Texas on Sept. 7, 2000. The Mustangs lost the most recent matchup, a 3-0 setback on Dec. 3, 2016.
Texas A&M (1-0)
SMU won the lone matchup against Texas A&M, a 3-0 sweep of the Aggies on Dec. 2, 2016, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS
-SMU volleyball swept North Texas 3-0 (25-18, 25-13, 27-25) to clinch the outright American Athletic Conference Championship on Nov. 18 in Moody Coliseum. The Mustangs (24-6, 17-1 AAC) claimed the conference's automatic NCAA Tournament bid with Friday's victory over UNT.
-SMU claimed its third conference title and first since the 2016 season.

BEST IN THE LEAGUE
Five members of the SMU volleyball team were named to the All-American Athletic Conference teams. Emma Clothier was named the Player of the Year. Celia Cullen was crowned the Setter of the Year, and Sina Uluave was named the Libero of the Year. Jamison Wheeler was tabbed as an All-AAC First-Team Selection, and Natalie Perdue earned a spot on the Second-Team. Sam Erger was announced as the AAC Coach of the Year.

MUSTANGS AAC WEEKLY ACCOLADES
Sept. 11
Emma Clothier- Weekly Honor Roll
Sept. 18
Jamison Wheeler- Weekly Honor Roll
Sept. 25
Emma Clothier- Offensive Player of the Week
Oct. 9
Jamison Wheeler- Offensive Player of the Week
Sina Uluave- Defensive Player of the Week
Oct. 16
Jamison Wheeler- Offensive Player of the Week
Alex Glover- Defensive Player of the Week
Oct. 23
Jamison Wheeler- Offensive Player of the Week
Oct. 30
Emma Clothier- Weekly Honor Roll
Nov. 6
Sina Uluave- Defensive Player of the Week
Naya Shime- Weekly Honor Roll
Nov. 13
Jamison Wheeler- Weekly Honor Roll
Nov. 20
Emma Clothier- Defensive Player of the Week
Naya Shime- Offensive Player of the Week
Nov. 22
Jamison Wheeler- Weekly Honor Roll

UP TO THIS POINT
-The Mustangs are 25-6 overall and are 18-1 in league play. SMU has swept its last nine opponents and is riding a 15-match win streak.
-SMU swept Memphis in its conference opener before traveling to defeat UTSA in back-to-back road matches.
-SMU split the season series with Wichita State. The Mustangs swept the Shockers before falling in four sets on Sunday.
-SMU picked up back-to-back road sweeps at Charlotte and FAU on Oct. 6 and 8th.
-SMU then swept Tulsa twice, holding them to below. 200 hitting on Friday and under .050 hitting Saturday.
-SMU claimed sole possession of first place in the AAC standings following two wins over Rice. The Mustangs defeated the Owls in four sets on Friday, before finishing off the weekend with a five-set victory.
-SMU swept UAB and USF in back-to-back matches in Moody Coliseum on Oct. 27 and 29th.
-SMU defeated East Carolina on Nov. 3 before picking up two more sweeps at Tulane on Nov. 10th and 12th.
-SMU clinched the outright conference title with two straight sweeps of North Texas on Nov. 17 and 18th. Two days later, SMU took down Pepperdine in its home finale.
-SMU opened its 2023 campaign at the Ameritas Players Challenge hosted by the University of Nebraska. SMU picked up a dominating sweep over Lipscomb to start off the season. SMU fell in a hard-fought match to Utah State 3-1, and was swept by Nebraska in the tournament finale.
-Next, SMU swept Florida State to kick off the Seminole Invitational. SMU dropped a hard-fought contest against Auburn 3-1 the next day.
-SMU defeated No. 14 Baylor 3-2 in its home opener. The victory marked the Mustangs' highest-ranked victory in program history.
-From there, SMU dropped back-to-back matches at the Stacey Clark Classic against then-20th-ranked Purdue and then-No. 21 Houston 3-1, respectively.
-SMU closed out its non-conference slate with three straight wins at the DoubleTree Invitational. The Mustangs beat Texas Tech in five sets to open the tournament. The Mustangs took down Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 3-1 the next day before closing out their non-conference slate with a sweep of LSU.

LAST TIME OUT
-SMU volleyball closed out the regular season with its 15th consecutive win with a 3-0 (28-26, 25-13, 25-14) sweep of Temple on Nov. 22 in McGonigle Hall.

POSTSEASON HISTORY
-2023 marks the Mustangs third all-time appearance in the NCAA Tournament. SMU fell to Purdue in four sets in 2015. SMU defeated Texas A&M in the first round of the 2016 NCAA Tournament before getting swept by the national runner-up Texas. The Mustangs played in the 2017 NIVC.

CONSISTENT CLOTHIER
-Emma Clothier was named the AAC Player of the Year.
-Clothier is hitting .387 on the year, ranking second in the league and 32nd in the nation.
-Clothier was named the AAC Defensive Player of the Week on Nov. 20 after leading the Mustangs in kills with 12 on .611 hitting and finishing with five blocks in Friday's sweep of North Texas. Clothier finished with seven kills, two blocks, and a dig on Saturday.
-Clothier was named the AAC and National Player of the Week after starting league play hitting .800 with 12 kills in SMU's sweep over Memphis. Clothier tallied 17 kills on .576 hitting, and 13 kills on .500 hitting in back-to-back matches at UTSA.
-Clothier has tallied at least eight kills on .300 or better hitting in 24 out of 31 matches this season.
-Clothier has tallied at least 12 kills on .500 or better hitting seven times this season.
-Clothier has posted 11 or more kills on .400 or better hitting three times this season.
-Clothier has tallied five plus blocks 10 times this season and ranks eighth in the league in total blocks with 110.
-Clothier was named to the All-Tournament Teams at the Seminole Invitational and the SMU DoubleTree Invitational.

SETTING UP FOR SUCCESS
-Celia Cullen was named the AAC Setter of the Year.
-Cullen ranks first in the AAC in assists per set and second in total assists.
-The senior setter has passed out 1141 total assists (40th nationally) and 10.56 per set (23rd nationally).
-Cullen has led the Mustangs in assists in all 31 matches and has six double-doubles on the season.
-Cullen recorded a season-high 58 assists against Florida Atlantic on Oct. 8, while also eclipsing 3000 career assists.
-Cullen earned All-Tournament Honors at the Stacey Clark Classic. Cullen dished out 36 assists and recorded four digs against No. 20 Purdue. The next day, Cullen Cullen led SMU in assists (45) and digs (16) on the way to her third double-double of the year.
-Cullen turned in back-to-back double-doubles against Auburn and Baylor. She passed out 41 assists and recorded 13 digs, against the Tigers, while turning in 54 assists and 19 digs against the Bears.

NATIONAL RECOGNITION
-Graduate middle blocker Emma Clothier was named the American Volleyball Coaches Association Division I National Player of the Week, the organization announced on Sept. 26. Clothier was the second Mustang to receive National Player of the Week honors in program history. She earned the honor after starting league play hitting .800 with 12 kills in SMU's sweep over Memphis. Clothier tallied 17 kills on .576 hitting, and 13 kills on .500 hitting in back-to-back matches at UTSA.

DIGGIN' IT
-Defensive specialist/libero Sina Uluave was named the AAC Libero of the Year.
-Uluave leads the Mustangs with 429 total digs on the year. Uluave has tallied double-digit digs 25 times and has led the Mustangs in digs in 20 out of the last 22 matches.
-The graduate libero has passed out 85 assists this season.
-Uluave's been crowned the AAC Defensive Player of the Week twice this season. She earned her first honor on Oct. 9 after tallying 15 digs and adding five assists in SMU's sweep of Charlotte. The Mustangs held the 49ers to a .047 hitting percentage. On Sunday, Uluave led the Mustangs in digs with 21. Uluave earned the same honor on Nov. 6, after leading the SMU defense in its sweep of ECU, turning in 19 digs. Uluave averaged 3.66 digs per set and eclipsed double digits for the 19th time this season.

WHEELER LIVING UP TO THE HYPE
-Jamison Wheeler was named a First-Team All-AAC Team Selection.
-Wheeler leads the Mustangs with 345 kills on the year and a team-high seven double-doubles.
-The junior outside hitter was crowned the AAC Offensive Player of the Week three straight times (Oct. 9, Oct. 16, Oct. 23).
-Wheeler earned her third AAC Player of the Week honor after posting back-to-back double-doubles versus Rice. Wheeler finished with 15 kills on .350 hitting and 14 digs on Friday and a season-high 23 kills and 19 digs while tying her career-high in blocks with four in SMU's five set victory on Saturday.
-Wheeler earned the accolade on Oct. 16 after posting 31 kills and 19 digs across two matches at Tulsa.
-Wheeler earned the honor for the first time after leading the Mustangs in kills with 15 in SMU's sweep of Charlotte. Wheeler turned in her second-highest hitting percentage of the season (.394) and added five digs, a block, and an assist. On Sunday, Wheeler tallied 21 kills along with eight digs, and a block.
-Wheeler has tallied 243 kills and 179 digs throughout conference play.
-Wheeler was named the Most Valuable Player of the SMU DoubleTree Invitational after recording 53 kills across three matches.
-Wheeler entered conference play after three straight 15 plus kill performances to finish non-conference.

BREAK OUT YEAR FROM PERDUE
-Natalie Perdue was named a Second-Team All-AAC Selection.
-Perdue is third on the team in kills with 296 total.
-Perdue has six double-doubles this season: vs. Auburn (15 kills, 12 digs), vs. Baylor (16 kills, 13 digs), vs. Houston (14 kills, 13 digs), vs. Wichita State (14 kills, 11 digs), at Florida Atlantic (16 kills, 18 digs), vs. Rice (18 kills, 16 digs).
-Perdue has turned in 186 kills, 109 digs, and 33 blocks through 18 matches in conference play.
-Perdue put together an impressive non-conference.
-Perdue recorded double-digit kills in six straight matches between 9/1-9/15. She wrapped up non-conference play with 105 kills, 72 digs and three double-doubles.
-Perdue was named to the All-Tournament Teams in back-to-back weeks to open the season at the Ameritas Players Challenge and the Stacey Clark Classic.

SHIMEING STAR
-SMU transfer outside hitter Naya Shime is putting together an impressive season.
-Shime was crowned the AAC's Offensive Player of the Week after posting double-digit kills in both of SMU's sweeps of North Texas. She tallied her third double-double of the season with 13 kills on .611 hitting and 11 digs on Saturday. Shime finished with 10 kills, eight digs, an ace, and an assist in Friday's victory.
-Shime earned a spot on the Weekly Honor Roll on Nov. 6 following double-digit kills (13) on .423, hitting for the second consecutive match and 10th time this season against ECU. Shime added four digs and three blocks.
-Shime has turned in 155 kills, 110 digs and 51 blocks in conference play.
-Shime turned in a career-high .889 hitting while adding six blocks and two digs in SMU's sweep of South Florida.
-Shime posted a season-high seven blocks in SMU's second win against Rice on Oct. 21.
-The Wyoming transfer finished the non-conference gauntlet with a team-high 107 kills, 81 digs and 30 blocks.
-The senior outside hitter recorded her first double-double of the season (17 kills, 14 digs) against Utah State.
-At the Stacey Clark Classic, Shime recorded 16 kills on .517 hitting and added three digs to start the tournament against No. 20 Purdue. On Saturday, Shime turned in her second double-double of the year with 11 kills and 14 digs versus No. 21 Houston.

MOODY MAGIC
-SMU finished the regular season 13-1 in Moody Coliseum. The Mustangs closed out a successful home campaign with a sweep of Pepperdine.
-SMU dominated North Texas in two matches to seal the third conference championship in program history Nov. 17-18.
-SMU swept UAB and USF on Oct. 27 and 29th.
-SMU took down Rice to claim sole possession of first place in the conference in back-to-back matches on Oct. 20 and 21st.
-SMU swept Wichita State on Sept. 30, before falling to the Shockers in four sets in its lone home loss this season.
-SMU picked up a 3-0 sweep of Memphis in its conference opener. -SMU took down Texas Tech, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and LSU at the Double-Tree Invitational.
-The Mustangs picked up their highest ranked victory in program history when it defeated then-No. 14 Baylor 3-2 on Sept. 6.

IN THE POLLS/RPI
-SMU enters the NCAA Tournament as a No. 7 seed. The Mustangs checked in at No. 24 in the NCAA RPI and have received votes in the last six AVCA Division 1 Top 25 Polls. SMU also received votes on Sept. 18.

PERFECT NOVEMEBER
-SMU is an unblemished 7-0 in the month of November, including seven straight sweeps.

OCTOBER WIN STREAK
-The Mustangs picked up eight wins in nine matches during the month of October, including five sweeps.

HOW SWEEP IT IS
-SMU has picked up 18 sweeps this season and 14 in AAC play. SMU enters the NCAA Tournament match after nine consecutive sweeps.

ON THE ATTACK
-SMU turned in the third best hitting percentage in program history (.444) against USF.
1. 596 Jackson State Sept. 9, 2000 33-2-52
2. .471 Quinnipiac Aug. 30, 2013 41-9-68
3. .444 South Florida Oct. 28, 2023 35-3-72
4. .429 East Carolina Oct. 2, 2015 49-7-98
5. 427 Charleston Southern Aug. 24, 2012 44-12-75
-SMU turned in back-to-back plus. 350 hitting performances against North Texas. SMU hit .364 on Friday, before finishing with a .364 percentage on Saturday.

DEFENDING THE ATTACK
-SMU's defense has been solid all season long.
-The Mustangs have held seven opponents under .100 hitting this season, including five in conference play.
-The Mustangs have held 11 opponents between .100-.199 hitting this season, including seven in conference play.
-SMU turned in a team season-high 16 blocks against Rice.
-The Mustangs have posted 10+ team blocks 11 times this season.

FINISHING STRONG
-Graduate middle blocker Alex Glover is finishing up her decorated career at SMU in style.
-Glover was named the AAC Defensive Player of the Week on Oct. 9 after finishing off the weekend with a dominant performance in SMU's sweep of Tulsa.
-Glover turned in a season-high 10 blocks and added four kills and two digs. She recorded six kills on eight swings while adding a team-high four blocks on Friday. Glover tallied 2.33 blocks per set over the Mustangs' pair of weekend sweeps.
-Glover has tallied six plus blocks seven times this season.

OHLINGER SHINES
-Lauren Ohlinger capped off an impressive weekend in SMU's back-to-back sweeps of North Texas.
-The graduate outside hitter turned in double-digit kills (11) on .391 hitting, while adding a season-high four blocks on Friday against UNT. Ohlinger led the way for the Mustangs on Saturday, finishing with 14 kills, two aces and three digs.
-Lauren Ohlinger led SMU's high-powered offensive attack with a season-high 17 kills on .308 hitting, including eight in the second set in the Mustangs sweep over (RV) Florida State. The Boise State transfer turned in 30 kills across two matches at the Seminole Invitational.
-Ohlinger finished non-conference with 57 kills.

SEPTEMBER TO REMEMBER
-SMU finished the month of September 9-3. SMU won seven consecutive matches, and recorded five sweeps during the month.
-SMU won the DoubleTree Invitational, and picked up a road sweep at Florida State, along with its highest ranked win in program history, a 3-2 win over then-No. 14 Baylor.
-SMU was undefeated in AAC play in September.

PONY UP DALLAS
-In just seven days, SMU has raised $100 million to support the Mustangs' transition to the Atlantic Coast Conference.
-The generous early commitments from a group of thirty donors that includes trustees and key donors – alumni and non-alumni alike – will enable SMU to align and compete with an elite group of national institutions with powerhouse athletic programs, benefitting both SMU Athletics and the entire University community.
-The move to the new conference is also creating additional impact. Mustang fans have responded enthusiastically to the planned move, with men's basketball season ticket sales jumping 30% in the last week and hundreds of new football season tickets being sold as well.
-Notably, the move has immediately raised SMU's profile, with media coverage of the move generating more than $163 million in advertising value in the first three days. In that same small window, SMU also experienced a 103% increase in visitors to its undergraduate admissions homepage.

NO PRESSURE, NO DIAMONDS
-The Mustangs 11-match non-conference gauntlet featured eight teams that made the NCAA Tournament in 2022, including three who won at least one tournament match and four who reached the Sweet 16. Five teams on the docket received votes or finished in the AVCA top-25 rankings.
-Nine of SMU's non-conference foes were ranked or received votes in the AVCA Top-25 Preseason Poll. -In-conference, the Mustangs host Rice in back-to-back matches in Moody Coliseum (Oct. 20 and 21). The Owls finished last season ranked 19th in the AVCA final top-25 rankings and made it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
-SMU faced 10 teams who finished in the top-50 in the NCAA RPI last season: Utah State (46), Nebraska (9), Florida State (30), Auburn (50), Baylor (16), Purdue (27), Kentucky (10)/Houston (18), LSU (48), Rice (15), Pepperdine (45).

MUSTANGS ON ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAMS
SMU Double Tree Invitational
Jamison Wheeler- MVP
Emma Clothier
Sina Uluave
Stacey Clark Classic
Celia Cullen
Ameritas Players Challenge All-Tournament Team
Natalie Perdue
Seminole Invitational All-Tournament Team
Emma Clothier
Natalie Perdue

ALEX GLOVER- THE NIL SUMMIT
This past fall, graduate student Alex Glover was presented with the opportunity to be a part of Meta's NIL Empower 2.0 NIL program — she was one of 30 female student-athletes across the nation.
The program provides student-athletes with a multitude of resources to help us amplify content creation efforts, specifically on Facebook and Instagram.
In addition to boosting their brands and helping prepare athletes for life after college, one of the advantages of being a part of Meta's NIL program was the chance to attend the 2023 NIL Summit in Atlanta just a few weeks ago in early June.
Meta was nominated for an award at the summit, so they invited the 30 student-athletes to Atlanta to meet each other face-to-face for the first time and continue to grow each other's brands and networks.
Glover was on a panel to speak on behalf of the Empower 2.0 program about content creation and storytelling.
"If there's anything I've learned within the past few years, it's that we have the capacity as student-athletes to write our own stories," graduate student-athlete Alex Glover said. "Every single one of us is going to have to retire from our respective sports one day, but now more than ever, we have the ability to build our brand and set ourselves up for success once we graduate."

FOREIGN TOUR
-SMU volleyball embarked on the program's first ever foreign tour. The Mustangs completed a 10-day trip, May 21-30, that included stops throughout Greece and Italy.
-The Mustangs faced several international teams along the way. The tour began with four nights in Greece. While there, SMU faced Club Milon in Athens. The Mustangs visited the Acropolis and Plaka and went sightseeing in Sounion and the island of Aegina. Next, SMU headed to Italy where they competed against Volleyro Roma and B1 team in Capannori.
-While in Italy, SMU visited the Colosseum and Roman Forum, along with stops at the Vatican and Trevi fountain, the region of Tuscany, and Lucca. The Mustangs closed out the tour with a match near Florence.

PRESEASON PROWESS
- SMU was picked to win the American Athletic Conference in the 2023 Preseason Coaches Poll.
-Junior outside hitter Jamison Wheeler was selected as the Preseason AAC Player of the Year. Graduate middle blocker Emma Clothier and senior setter Celia Cullen were also tabbed as Preseason All-Conference selections.
-The Mustangs garnered the most points in the poll with 78 and picked up seven first-place votes, while Rice was second with 76 points and six first-place votes.
-A 2022 First-Team All-AAC selection, Wheeler was selected as the conference's preseason player of the year after leading the Mustangs with 385 kills, averaging 3.41 kills per set last season. She totaled 1,051 attacks and 48 service aces, placing her second on the all-time single-season list in school history. Wheeler ranked second on the team with 292 digs and finished with 38 blocks.
-Cullen made the 2023 Preseason All-Conference team after earning a team-high 1148 assists, averaging 10.16 assists per game last season. The senior tallied 253 digs and recorded 41 kills and 18 service aces. Cullen was a Second-Team All-Conference selection in 2022.
-Clothier brings her talents to the Hilltop as a graduate transfer after a decorated career at Florida State. The Carrollton, Texas native was a four-time All-ACC and two-time All-American selection.

BUILDING SOMETHING SPECIAL
-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 took over for Lisa Seifert, who started the program and holds the SMU record for most coaching wins across all sports (441), announced her retirement in January of 2022.
-Erger completed her first season (2022) as head coach on the Hilltop with a 22-10 overall record. Selected fifth in the American Athletic Conference Preseason Coaches Poll, the Mustangs finished third with a 15-5 clip in league play. Marieke van der Mark and Jamison Wheeler earned All-AAC First Team honors, and Celia Cullen was named to the Second Team. It marked the first time since 2019 that two Mustangs earned first-team honors. SMU collected the third most selections in the conference under Erger.
-Trent Sorensen is the Mustangs associate head coach. Christa Branson serves as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator. Clayton Bristow is a assistant coach. Brittany Clark serves as the director of operations, and Diego Aguilar is the Mustangs graduate assistant.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Emma Clothier

Celia Cullen

Alex Glover

Lauren Ohlinger

Natalie Perdue

Naya Shime

Sina Uluave

Marieke van der Mark

Jamison Wheeler

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