SMU’s Jessica Oliver and Natalie Peters go up for a block against Tulane’s Sara Radosevic in a 3-0 loss Sunday afternoon in Moody Coliseum. SMU went 1-1 over the weekend, defeating UTEP 3-2 Friday. (Lindsey Perkins)

Thus far, the SMU volleyball team has prided itself on defense. But last weekend, the defense was virtually nonexistent in a pair of conference matches at Moody Coliseum.

The Mustangs needed five sets and every offensive weapon they could manage to put away the Texas-El Paso Miners (5-13, 1-4 Conference USA) on Friday. Then the Tulane Green Wave (13-5, 5-1) hit a remarkable .469, wiping out SMU in three sets Sunday.

SMU (11-10, 3-4) allowed its two opponents to hit .333 on the weekend, while managing only a .208 attack percentage of its own.

The Mustangs hit the road this weekend to face the University of Memphis on Friday and the University of Alabama-Birmingham on Sunday. SMU is 0-2 on the road against conference opponents.

UTEP came into Friday’s match having lost seven of its last 10, but the Miners nearly pulled off the upset, which would’ve given them only their second victory away from home this season.

After dropping the first set, the Mustangs rebounded to win the second and third frames, but UTEP rebounded for a narrow 25-22 fourth-set victory.

In the decisive fifth set, the Mustangs hit a remarkable .368 and held on for a 15-12 victory.

Sophomore Kathryn Wilkerson served up her 18th ace of the season to give SMU a 4-1 advantage in the final set, and Natalie Peters finished the match with a kill. The Mustangs finished with eight kills and only one error in the final set.

Freshman Dana Powell had 15 kills in 33 attempts and finished with a team-leading .333 attack percentage. Peters and Wilkerson combined for 27 kills, and junior middle blocker Kendra Kahanek led the team with four blocks.

For the Miners, Amy Sanders had 59 total attacks – 28 more than the next teammate – and only 20 kills. Sanders leads the team with 217 kills this season, but she is hitting only .129.

UTEP hit a respectable .263, led by Keisha Hyman-Gifth’s 12 kills and two errors in 24 attacks (.417).

Tulane 3, SMU 0

The Green Wave amassed a brilliant .540 attack percentage in the first two sets and had only seven errors in the match.

SMU hit only .043 in the third set and finished with a .215 attack percentage, which wasn’t nearly enough to keep up with Tulane’s offensive firepower. The Green Wave put the match away with a 25-14 third-set victory.

Kahanek led the Mustangs with nine kills and managed a .412 attack percentage. Senior setter Stefanie Kons had three kills in five attempts.

For Tulane, Jen Linder had 10 kills in 11 attempts, and Bridget Wells slugged 13 kills in 20 attempts.