Acker, Young Earn All-American Honors

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OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. (SMU) – Avery Acker and Caroline Young each earned AVCA All-America Honorable Mention for the second time in their careers, marking just the second time in program history two players were awarded All-America status in the same season. Selections and Honorable Mentions to the All-America team are made by the 12-person AVCA Division I All-America Committee based on statistics and performance. Inclusions are no longer automatic based on all-region status.

Acker joins Dana Powell as the only players to earn All-America awards in consecutive seasons at SMU after setting American Athletic Conference records with 1,413 assists, third most in a season at SMU, and 11.68 assists per set, seventh in a season at SMU and the most since 2004. The junior setter, who was the 2013 Setter of the Year in the conference, also led the league with 26 double-doubles, finishing the season with 403 digs. She also had 64 kills and 24 service aces.

A native of Poth, Texas, Acker was twice named Offensive Player of the Week in The American, and was named to the all-conference first team this season. She recorded a career-high 62 assists in a five-set win against New Mexico, and also tallied 48 in a three-set victory at Houston.

Young was also an All-America Honorable Mention as a sophomore in 2012, giving SMU three multiple All-America award winners, all in the past five seasons, with Dana Powell earning honorable mentions in 2009 and 2010. Young, the lone senior in the starting lineup this season, led the Mustangs in kills for the third straight season with 376, averaging 3.16 per set, despite playing 10 sets in the back row after an ankle injury at Memphis. She was second in The American with 47 service aces, and was sixth in the league in points scored.

The Brenham, Texas, native was named conference Offensive Player of the week twice, and picked up her fourth all-conference award, including a third straight first-team selection. She was also a first-team all-region honoree, and finished with nine double-doubles, posting 245 digs this season.

DFW_6248-1The Mustangs set season records for wins, 26, wins at home, 15, home win percentage, .938 (15-1), overall win percentage, .813 (26-6), and season attendance, 8,625, averaging a record 539 fans per match. SMU finished second in the American Athletic Conference for the second straight season, matching Temple with a 15-5 record in league play, won a program-record 11 consecutive matches, including a 3-2 win against then-No. 24 Oklahoma, the first victory over a ranked opponent in program history, and received votes in the AVCA Coaches Top 25 Poll for three weeks, earning votes in the poll for the first time.

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