SMU Volleyball Coach Gets 300th Win
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DALLAS (SMU) – SMU head coach Lisa Seifert earned her 300th career victory at SMU as the Mustangs won the fifth set 15-5 for a 3-2 win against Tulane in Moody Coliseum Sunday afternoon. Abbey Bybel led the Mustangs with 14 kills and had 11 digs for her eighth double-double of the season. SMU improved to 15-3 overall, 4-2 in the American Athletic Conference, while Tulane fell to 4-14, 2-4 in The American.
SMU scored seven of the first eight points in the fifth set, taking a commanding 7-1 lead, but Tulane rallied to within three with kills for the next three points. An attack error by the Green Wave gave SMU and 8-4 leading as the teams switched ends of the court. Tulane scored the next point, but it was the last for the Green Wave as SMU rallied for the next seven straight to end the match.
Avery Acker posted her 13th double-double of the season with 47 assists and 12 digs. Katie Hegarty and Kristen Stehling each had 11 kills, and Janelle Giordano finished with 10 to give SMU four attackers in double figures. Giordano and Hegarty also accounted for eight of SMU’s 12 blocks. The Mustangs hit just .193 in the match, but held Tulane to a .131 attack percentage. Morgan Heise finished with 19 digs.
SMU took a 2-1 lead in the match with a 25-19 victory in the third set. The Mustangs scored four of the first five points, and stretch the lead to six, 14-8. Tulane battled all the way to within one, 18-17, but the Mustangs quickly
pushed the lead back to five, 23-18, to end the threat. Bybel and Stehling each had four kills to lead SMU in the set.
The Green Wave forced a fifth set with a 25-19 win in the fourth. Tulane took a 13-6 lead to start the set, and held on for the victory. SMU couldn’t get any closer than four points down, 14-10. The Green Wave hit .375 in the set, with seven kills from Sarah Ray, and held SMU to just 10 kills as a team.
Ray had 16 kills, and Tea Juric led the Green Wave with a match-high 23 kills. Miah Diirell had a match-high 25 digs in the loss.
The Mustangs rallied from behind to take the 1st set 25-21. Tulane took a 10-6 lead to start the set, and led by three, 13-10, before SMU scored four straight to take the lead, 14-13. The Green Wave scored the next point, but the Mustangs put three more on the board for a 17-14 lead. SMU stretched the lead to as many as five, winning the first set by four points, 25-21. Giordano paced the offense with five kills and recorded one of SMU’s three blocks.
Tulane evened the match, holding off a charge by the Mustangs to take a 25-22 victory in the second set. SMU took a 6-3 lead on Bula’s second kill of the set, but the Green Wave went on a 9-1 run to take a 12-7 lead they wouldn’t relinquish. SMU battled to within two points five different times, but Tulane stopped the rallies each time to hold on for the win.
SMU plays next at Tulsa Wednesday at 7 p.m. A home match against East Carolina on Sunday then precedes four-straight road matches.
