SMU’s Caitlin Rainbird (8) tries to block a hit from Tulsa’s Nicole Boyle (6) during a recent match at Moody. Photo by John Schreiber, The Daily Campus

The SMU volleyball team beat the UTEP Miners on Sunday afternoon by a score of 3-2 to snap a three-game losing streak after losing to Tulane on Friday night by a score of 3-0.

Both games took place at Moody Coliseum over the weekend and leave the Mustangs in position to make a run in the conference tournament. They are currently tied for seventh in the conference and have four more conference games that could improve their position within C-USA.

The split at Moody Coliseum improved the volleyball team’s record overall record to 15-11 and its conference record to 5-7. The Miners dropped to 8-16 overall and 2-11 in C-USA play, while Tulane improved to 23-5 overall and 11-2 in conference play.

Against Tulane, the Mustangs dropped all three games to the Green Wave (30-23, 30-24, 30-23). In all three games, the Mustangs were close in the beginning but could not hold off the the Green Wave late in the game.

Kendra Kahanek notched a season-best 10 kills that led the Mustangs in the match. Kara Cornelius hit 0.375 while having four kills. Overall, the Mustangs led the Green Wave in blocks 12-8.5, but could not turn it into a win.

The loss to Tulane extended the Mustangs’ overall and conference losing streak to three games.

Rather than folding after a tough loss, SMU bounced back against UTEP by winning a close match.

The Mustangs won the first game by a score of 30-24. The Miners narrowly won the next game 29-31. The two teams traded victories in the next two games with scores of 30-28 and 24-30, respectively. The Mustangs won the deciding game convincingly by a score of 15-7.

Natalie Peters led the Mustangs against the Miners in hitting with a 0.438 hitting percentage. The Mustangs also recorded four double doubles on the game. Kathryn Wilkerson recorded a team-high 23 kills and 18 digs for her 17th double double of the year. The other three Mustangs with double doubles are Caitlin Rainbird with 13 kills and 20 digs, Stefanie Kons with 29 assists and 15 digs, and Madison Hill with 26 assists and 10 digs.

The Mustangs also led the Miners in nearly every relevant team statistical category except for kills, where the Miners and Mustangs tied.

The Mustangs have a couple days to rest before they play host to the Memphis Tigers on Friday night at 7 and UAB on Sunday afternoon. These are the Mustangs’ final home games before the conference tournament.