Fourteen seasons ago, head coach Seifert spearheaded the addition of a woman’s volleyball team into the world of SMU athletics.

The program started with no court, no volleyballs and no staff.

Head coach Lisa Seifert built this team from the ground up, and with the athletes she has this year, it looks like the program just may keep on growing.

“These guys are high flying and very dynamic,” Seifert says.

The team is largely composed of the same athletes this season, which will allow for more depth on the court. All of the women stayed in Dallas to train together this summer and it is likely to pay off this fall.

“They’ve prepared themselves to be better,” Seifert explains. “This group is by far the best volleyball playing, most athletic team we’ve ever had.”

Although the team claims that everyone who steps on the court is a rival, this year the team looks forward to beating their travel partner, Tulsa on Nov. 12 and 14.

A newly introduced rivalry will be university rival TCU. In past years, the two programs have played each other and had a 10-4 record, TCU has not played SMU since 2005. The lady mustangs are eager to take part in a campus wide rivalry against Texas Christian University on Sept. 8.

Coach Seifert named Sophomore Dana Powell, senior Kendra Kahanek and Sophomore Sidney Stewart as players to watch in the coming season.

“If those three are playing well, we have a really good shot to do something big,” Seifert said.

Stewart is the team’s libero and leads in digs per set for the team. Kahanek set a SMU and C-USA match record of 17 blocks in a televised match against Tulsa last season and Powell played all games her freshman year and is expected to continue to develop her skills in the next three seasons with the Mustangs.

The team has the talent, the equipment, the coaching and now are looking for the support of SMU students. Coach Seifert claims, “if you come and you watch these athletes play volley ball you’re going to want to come back.”