The SMU Volleyball team showed poise and promise at the North Texas Mean Green Invitational this weekend, losing five-set matches against Northern Colorado and New Mexico State by two points each, and easily defeating UT-San Antonio in four sets.
The Mustangs fell to Northern Colorado on Friday in five sets (25-23, 25-21, 23-25, 16-25, 15-17), though they made the game interesting by winning the first two sets and then losing the next two. Sophomore Dana Powell, with her first double-double of the season with 18 kills and 10 digs, powered the Mustangs in a dominating beginning that cumulated in SMU leading by two sets. However, the Mustangs fell apart afterwards and lost three straight sets, including the fifth-set tiebreaker, to lose the match.
SMU then played against No. 31 New Mexico State and the Mustangs pushed the Aggies to the brink before losing again in a fifth-set tiebreaker (15-25, 25-22, 22-25, 25-17, 14-16). Powell starred again for SMU, recording her second double-double with 18 kills and 17 digs. The Mustangs, perhaps still thinking about letting the last match slip through their fingers, went down easily in the first set. They rebounded quickly though, winning set two to tie it before losing a hotly contested set three. SMU dominated the fourth set, setting up a fifth-set tiebreaker yet again. Unfortunately, the team came up short again and fell to 0-2 on the season.
“It’s frustrating knowing that had we won four more points on the weekend, we would be 3-0 right now rather than 1-2,” said Lisa Seifert, head coach of the SMU volleyball team. “However I am happy with the way we fought through each match. Rich Kern had New Mexico State ranked No. 16 when we played them and had we scored two more points, we would have won it.”
The Mustangs were determined not to get swept and managed to end the tournament strong, defeating UT-San Antonio in four sets (17-25, 25-11, 25-10, 25-14). Though the Mustangs dropped the first set, they had little trouble with the next three and played well enough to avoid another tiebreaker. Powell, who was named to the Mean Green Volleyball Classic All-Tournament Team, recorded her third straight double-double, racking up 12 kills along with 12 digs to lead the team.
“I am happy with our attacking, but extremely disappointed with our defense,” Seifert said. “I can promise that our team defense will improve tremendously in the next couple of weeks.”
The Mustangs play the University of North Texas next on Sept. 2.
