The SMU volleyball team is riding a seven-match win streak after strong performances this past weekend at home in the Doubletree Invitational. The invitational also marked the end of non-conference play for the Mustangs (10-4).
SMU swept a doubleheader on Friday against the Syracuse Orange and the Texas State Bobcats before winning the tournament on Sunday by defeating William & Mary.
The Mustangs reeled off three straight sets after coming out flat-footed against Texas State in the first set (20-25, 25-13, 32-30, 25-22). In the first set, SMU only managed to hit for .172, but the team quickly responded, evening the match at 1-1 by hitting for .348 and stunning the Bobcat defense for an easy set.
The third set was proved to be the most intense, going all the way to 30-30 before the Mustangs finally finished off the Bobcats. SMU had to dodge five-set points along the way to victory. Texas State would threaten again in the fourth set, but SMU would prove too much to handle and would go on to win the match.
Against Syracuse, the Mustangs came out much more focused and built up an insurmountable 2-0 set lead en route to victory (25-16, 25-18, 19-25, 25-21). Syracuse did not put much of an effort at first, with SMU out-scoring the Orange 50-34 in the first two sets. Syracuse refused to go down without a fight though, taking the third set to stay alive in the match. But, the lead the Mustangs had built proved to be too much to overcome for the Orange.
In their final match, the Mustangs again started off slow against William & Mary before winning three straight for the victory and invitational championship (15-25, 25-29, 25-23, 25-22). Poor play in the first set forced SMU to play from a set down, but the Mustangs responded as they had done the entire tournament and tied the set at one-apiece. Determination was the key in the final two sets, and SMU proved they were stronger by overcoming pressure to win at the end of both sets that came down to the final points.
Senior Kendra Kahanek won MVP honors for the tournament after putting down 10 kills against William & Mary at a .360 hit rate. Sophomore Dana Powell recorded a pair of double-doubles against Texas State and Syracuse on Friday to raise her team-leading total to nine, and was also named to the All-Tournament team, despite not playing on Sunday against William & Mary.
Sophomore Sidney Stewart was named libero of the tournament but didn’t limit herself to just that position. She would finish the match against William & Mary with seven kills, 14 digs and a block. Her efforts during the tournament also earned her Conference USA Player of the Week honors for the second time in a row. She is the first-ever SMU volleyball player to accomplish such a feat.
