SAN ANTONIO – The UTSA volleyball team – winners of two of three to open the year – will hit the road for a pair of matches at SMU in Dallas, with first serve on Thursday night set for 6 p.m. and Friday afternoon set for 2 p.m. Both matches are set for a broadcast live on ESPN+.
UTSA (2-1) will face off with SMU (2-0) in a pair in Dallas at the Moody Coliseum. Tickets are free and the matches will be broadcast live on ESPN+ with John Liddle calling the action.
The Roadrunners have opened the year with three matches, missing two matches at Tulane last week due to COVID-19 concerns. UTSA has averaged 13.7 kills, 12.5 assists, 1.7 aces, 15.6 digs and 1.1 blocks per set to open the season, hitting .250 as a team. UTSA owns five set wins over UTRGV and UIW, also falling at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
In the home-opening win for UTSA on Sunday, the Roadrunners got 17 kills, six digs and five blocks from Bianca Ejesieme, who was named Conference USA Offensive Player of the Week for the performance.
Ejesieme has averaged 2.50 kills per set to open her 2020-21 season, hitting .217 with a total of 40.5 points. Sophomore setter Courtney Walters has helped direct the UTSA offense, averaging 9.93 assists per set, while libero Mia Ybarra owns a team-leading 4.79 digs per set. Hunter Coppola (2.93), Amanda Ifeanyi (3.67), Jessica Langridge (2.6) and Kirby Smith (2.6) have helped lead UTSA in kills per set. Ifeanyi, a freshman from The Woodlands, Texas, is hitting .482 early in her freshman season.
The Mustangs have opened their season with a pair of wins over Rice in Dallas on Jan. 29-30, including a five-set win in their season opener and a sweep the following day. The Mustangs have averaged 13.5 kills, 12.3 assists, 16.5 digs, 0.8 aces and 1.6 blocks through their two matches.
Jadyn Bauss totaled 33 points for SMU on opening weekend, adding 3.13 digs and 3.63 kills per set. Hannah Jacobs had 3.75 kills – a .307 hitting percentage – with 31 total points, while Bria' Merchant led the team with 4.75 digs per set and Lily Heim had a team-high 10.38 assists per set.
- UTSA -
