The SMU volleyball team poked its record back above .500 on Tuesday, defeating the University of North Texas in three tightly contested sets at the Mean Green Volleyball Center in Denton.

The Mustangs, who won each set by an average of 2.3 points, avoided the disastrous upset to the Mean Green (3-14, 1-3 Sun Belt) because of sensational play by co-captains Kathryn Wilkerson and Natalie Peters.

The duo combined for 24 kills and a .380 hitting percentage. The Mustangs (10-9, 2-3 Conference USA) finished with a respectable .211 attack percentage and held North Texas to .156.

The Mustangs return to conference play this weekend with matchups against the Texas-El Paso Miners at 7 p.m. Friday and Tulane Green Wave at 1 p.m. Sunday. Both matches take place at Moody Coliseum.

The Mustangs will be glad to return home after three consecutive rocky road games. Prior to Tuesday’s narrow victory, SMU lost a pair of lopsided matches at conference rivals Houston and Rice.

While SMU was far from dominant Tuesday, it didn’t fail to put down the hammer when a set’s outcome was in question. In the final set, which featured 11 ties, the teams combined to hit a blistering .296 before the Mustangs emerged with a 27-25 victory.

Wilkerson tallied half of her kills in the third set, and SMU was on target with 15 of its 35 attack attempts. In addition, Wilkerson stepped up defensively to tie for the team lead in digs with eight.

Peters finished with 12 kills, and Kendra Kahanek led the Mustangs with seven block assists.

Mustangs look to keep home winning streak alive

The Mustangs look to continue their two-game conference winning streak at home this weekend. The Mustangs edged Central Florida in five sets on Sept. 26 and Southern Mississippi in four sets on Sept. 28.

The Miners (5-12, 1-3) are in a similar predicament as the Mustangs. UTEP has lost its last two matches on the road and has experienced its fair share of peaks and valleys this season.

The Miners are allowing a .208 attack percentage this season and are hitting only .168 themselves. Catherine Chavez and Amy Sanders have combined for 395 of the team’s 731 kills. The duo also accounts for nearly 40 percent of the team’s digs.

On Sunday, the Mustangs have their hands full with one of the conference’s top teams.

The Green Wave (11-5, 3-1) has won nine of its last 10 matches, but they face the defending conference champion Tulsa Golden Hurricane on Friday.

Tulane has blistered its opponents with 13.6 kills per set and is led offensively by senior outside hitter Sara Radosevic, who has amassed 219 kills.