With the regular season over, the SMU volleyball team heads to Houston to play in the Conference USA Tournament today. The No. 8 seeded Mustangs will face No. 9 seed Southern Mississippi in the first round at noon at the University of Houston.
SMU finished the season with two wins at home, making them 16-14 overall and 7-9 in conference play. The team faced Southern Miss in September of this year, losing to the Golden Eagles 3-0 in Dallas.
Two Mustangs were listed on All-Conference teams this week, junior outside hitter Rachel Giubilato was named to the C-USA All-Conference First team while freshman Kendra Kahanek was named to the C-USA all-freshman team. The honors come as a result of Giubilato’s and Kahanek’s record-breaking performances throughout the season.
The Golden Eagles finished their regular season with a 15-17 overall record and 6-10 in C-USA competition. Southern Miss has only one All-Conference player, Angela Hlavaty, who was named to the All-Freshman team. The middle hitter has 317 kills so far this season, averaging 2.78 per game. Fellow Golden Eagle Amanda Huntoon leads her team with 115 blocks this season.
Offensively, the SMU is a strong competitor with outside hitters Giubilato and Caitlin Rainbird on the front line. Giubilato posted 453 kills this season with a game average of 4.76. She’s earned 19 double-doubles, while teammate Rainbird has notched 16 double-doubles. Rainbird averages 3.54 kills per game, totaling 403 for the season. Both players average more than three digs per game.
Setters Madison Hill and Stefanie Kons direct the offense, with 4.85 and 11.43 assists per game, respectively.
On the defense, the Mustangs have Kahanek and freshman libero Candice Davis. Kahanek leads the team in attack percentages with .321. Davis earned three C-USA Defensive Player of the Week honors this season and averages 4.44 digs per game. Sophomore Natalie Peters contributes to the defensive action with a total of 111 blocks so far this season, despite an injury that kept her on the bench for a few matches.
The SMU and Southern Miss match-up will be the first of the 2006 C-USA volleyball tournament. If the Mustangs are victorious, they will take on No. 1 seeded Tulsa on Friday at noon.
