SMU Volleyball had a busy weekend, but it was well worth it. The Mustangs started the Doubletree Classic off with a win over Georgia Tech in Moody Coliseum on Friday night.
Abbey Bybel scored 13 kills and had 12 digs. Avery Acker recorded her third double-double of the season with 36 assists and 12 digs.
“We were super pumped about opening our first play in Moody,” Bybel said. “We were nothing but confident because we have been busting it in practice every single day.”
SMU went 25-19, 25-16 and finished the sweep in the third set going 25-17. Georgia Tech was ahead at one point, but the Mustangs didn’t give up. They came back for a 10-1 run taking a 16-11 lead.
“As a team, to get to this point, we sacrificed a lot,” Bybel said. “Each and every one of us have a ton of potential on our team this year and to reach what we can achieve we have to stay focused and give it our all every single day.”
The excitement didn’t stop after the Georgia game. The Mustangs went on to play Texas Southern in a 3-1 victory on Saturday morning.
Caroline Young recorded 18 kills for the Mustangs, but was not taking any credit for the Mustangs win. She focused on the progress of the team.
“I don’t really think about my stats, especially because we have so many great players on this team,” Young said. “I think no matter what, this team stays focused on making each other better rather than how we are individually performing.”
In the third set the match was tied 1-1 and the Mustangs continued to fight taking a 25-10 win. Young scored five kills for the Mustangs, leading the SMU attack. The Mustangs made the fourth set look easy winning 25-9.
“I think our team is very committed to being the best we can be,” Young said. “We have worked extremely hard to prepare for this season over the summer and two-a-days and it is great that we have been able to compete with some really good teams.”
One of those really good teams the Mustangs played in the final Match of the Doubletree Invitational, beating No.24 Oklahoma.
“It was amazing,” Young said. “‘Wow’ is the only word I have for that game.”
This was the Mustangs first win over a nationally-ranked team in program history, and it was in front of the second-largest home crowd in program history.
In the fifth set the Mustangs trailed 8-5 when the teams switched sides, but came back to tie the score 10-10 and go on to win 16-14. Abbey Bybel had a kill that scored back-to-back points for SMU and a combined block from Young and Janelle Giordano helped end the fifth set.
“The OU game– I can’t even put into words,” Bybel said. “When you’re put in the situation as the underdog you have two options, you can tell us we can’t win and we can prove you wrong or we can fold under pressure and your prediction can come true. And this weekend we decided to prove everything wrong.”
The Mustangs are on a roll and a mission to continue proving people wrong.
“As a team we played fearless and left it all on the court that night,” Bybel said. “We gave everything we had to beat OU and we accomplished that goal.”
Young was named this weeks American Athletic Conference Offensive player of the week and Morgan Heise was named to the conference honor roll after 4.17 digs digs per set this weekend.
“Our focus has been to continue to keep getting better,” Young said. “And that is what it will continue to be until the season is over.
SMU travels to Arkansas for a tournament this weekend and will play Friday at 4 p.m. On Saturday the Mustangs will play South Dakota.
“I am so excited for what the 2014 volleyball season has in store for the SMU Volleyball Team,” Bybel said.
