Nov. 16, 2006

Box Score

HOUSTON, Texas - In match one of the 2006 Conference USA Volleyball Championship at Hofheinz Pavilion in Houston, Texas, SMU outlasted Southern Miss, 3-2 (27-30, 30-28, 26-30, 32-30, 15-11), in a five-game thriller. SMU rallied to win game four, 32-30, and then kept the momentum to take game five, 15-11. The Mustangs' Caitlin Rainbird led all players with 20 kills and chipped in with 11 digs for the double-double, her 18th on the season.

SMU's Rachel Giubilato registered her 20th double-double, as she pounded 18 kills and a team-high 22 digs. The junior also had five blocks. Natalie Peters tallied 16 kills and eight blocks in the win, while Kendra Kahanek hit .391 with 11 kills and eight blocks. Setter Madison Hill led SMU with 41 assists and added 11 digs for her fourth double-double. Libero Candice Davis also had 22 digs for SMU.

Amanda Huntoon led four Golden Eagles with double-digit kills, notching 17 and adding five blocks and five digs. Mari Ruddick and Nicole Rock both hammered 13 kills and had double-doubles adding 11 digs and 10 blocks, respectively. C-USA All-Freshman team member Angela Hlavaty had 11 kills in the loss.

SMU head coach Lisa Seifert was happy her team was able to survive and advance to play No. 1 seed Tulsa Friday at noon.

"That wasn't the prettiest volleyball today," Seifert said. "The main thing is we got that first win under out belt now we can move on. Tulsa is a great team with a great coach and we will just have to chip away at it tomorrow."

The Mustangs improve to 17-14 on the season with the win and have won three games in a row. The Golden Eagles end their regular season at 15-18.