The SMU volleyball team will embark upon their final road game of the regular season on Thursday when they travel to Tulsa University to take on the Golden Hurricane before coming back home to play Tulsa again for the Mustangs’ final home game.

Theoretically, if SMU can defeat Tulsa in both matches, the Mustangs would leapfrog the Golden Hurricane into fourth place, at the least.

However, the Mustangs will have their hands full against a tough Tulsa squad that ranks first in Conference USA in hitting percentage and is ranked second in assists and kills. The Golden Hurricane is led by Hannah Stout, who is ranked first in C-USA in hitting percentage and Tyler Henderson, who is ranked first in kills with an average of 4.44 kills per set.

Fortunately, the Mustangs have their own stars. On the defensive side of the ball, SMU is one of the top units in the conference, ranking second in both blocks and digs.

Individually, senior Kendra Kahanek is ranked first in blocks, averaging 1.22 per set, while freshman Courtney Manning and sophomore Jessica Oliver are also ranked fourth and eighth, respectively. Sophomore Sidney Stewart is fourth in the conference in digs with an average of 4.58 digs per set.