SMU Volleyball traveled to San Diego this weekend to open its season at the San Francisco Invite.

The Mustangs played its opening round against San Francisco falling 3-0 (25-17, 25-21, 25-16) on Friday night.

On paper the Mustangs looked good. Standout Caroline Young ended with 11 kills while Kristen Stehling finished with eight. Abbey Bybel recorded a team-high 12 digs with four kills, while Avery Acker scored a double-double with 32 assists and 10 digs. The Mustangs doubled the Dons’ posting 6.0 to USF’s 3.0. The Dons’ pulled away with 59 digs to SMU’s 46; Mustangs Mordan Heise and Cailin Bula each had nine digs.

Back again at the San Francisco Invite on Saturday the Mustangs faced Georgia and Fordham.

The Mustangs came out strong against Georgia taking a 4-1 victory, after winning three straight sets. Bybel had 11 kills and nine digs, while Janelle Giordano had 11 kills with four blocks. Heise had 22 digs, only two away from her career-high. Acker went on to score her second double-double of the season, posting 42 assists and 10 digs. Acker matched Stehling with a team-high five blocks.

The Mustangs finished strong after going on to battle Fordham for a 3-0 victory in its final match at the San Francisco Invite.

Bybel recorded a match-high 12 kills and 14 digs for a double double. Young finished with 10 kills, while Lauren Mills had seven and Acker had 35 assists and seven digs.

The Mustangs will host the SMU Doubletree Invite this weekend. Each team will have an opening match on Friday night, and SMU will go on to play Texas Southern and Oklahoma on Saturday.

You can cheer on your Mustangs as they host Georgia Tech in Moody Coliseum on Friday night at 7 p.m.