Volleyball: SMU vs. UConn/Temple

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

19-19.

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

SMU defeats Temple 2-1 and moves into a tie for second place in The American.

The fifth set was 29-27!

Cailin Bula led SMU with 19 kills. Avery Acker had a whopping 61 assists and 14 digs. Abbey Bybel also had 12 kills and 17 digs. Morgan Heise had 23 digs.

SMU hosts Tulsa Tuesday afternoon at Moody.

Go Mustangs!

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

American standings with two matches remaining. UCF is the regular season champion and gets the automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament.

1. x-UCF (16-2)
2. SMU (13-5)
2. Temple (13-5)
2. Tulsa (13-5)
5. Memphis (12-6)
6. Houston (6-12)
7. Cincinnati (7-11)
7. USF (7-11)
9. ECU (6-12)
10. UConn (4-14)
11. Tulane (3-15)

[fifty]

We deserve to make the tournament.

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

We deserve to make the tournament.

I think we have a chance if we win out.

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

SMU swept The American weekly awards this week!

Avery Acker was named offensive player of the week, and Janelle Giordano was named defensive player of the week.

Morgan Heise was also named to the honor roll.

http://theamerican.org/news/2014/11/24/WVB_1124140222.aspx

Offensive Player of the Week
Avery Acker, SMU: 13.25 assists/set; 61 assists in win over Temple; 24th and 25th double-doubles of the season

Defensive Player of the Week
Janelle Giordano, SMU: 2.38 blocks/set; 13 blocks in win over UConn; .310 hitting pct.

Honor Roll
Morgan Heise, SMU: 6.50 digs/set; 29 digs in four-set win over UConn; SMU went 2-0 on weekend

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

RPI update. SMU is up to 43.

UCF - 33
SMU - 43
Tulsa - 52
Temple - 61
Memphis - 94

Our remaining regular seasons are Tulsa (52) and East Carolina (177)

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

Once again, I don't know much about the volleyball selection process.

But, if you count at-large bids from the top of the RPI we are 29th.

Allowing for the 32 automatic bids, that puts at 61 in the 64-team field so we are definitely on the bubble.

I imagine one of our biggest challenges is a potential stigma on the selection committee of giving The American a second bid. Hopefully, the fact we have an 11-1 non-conference record against a decent schedule and don't have any bad conference losses will help get us in.

Of course, the first order of business is beating Tulsa and East Carolina this week.

Go Mustangs!