No. 7 Mustangs Return Dwelling To Face Wake Forest and NC State

 
SETTING THE SCENE
• After 4 straight matches away from Dallas, SMU returns house for the weekend for 2 matches, which begin a four-match stretch in opposition to colleges from the state of North Carolina. The Mustangs will tackle Wake Forest and NC State inside Moody Coliseum on Friday and Sunday.
• SMU brings a six-match win streak into the weekend, tied for the longest successful streak of the season.
• The NCAA DI ladies’s volleyball committee introduced SMU Volleyball as No. 5 in its in-season high 16 rankings on Sunday. The Mustangs are one in all 4 ACC groups to make the rankings and have wins over two of the 16 groups chosen by the committee.
• SMU Volleyball moved as much as No. 7 this week within the AVCA rankings after successful on the street over No. 4 Louisville and Notre Dame final week. No. 7 surpasses the No. 8 rating from the earlier ballot as the very best in program historical past.
• Averi Carlson earned her fifth ACC Setter of the Week honor after recording 90 assists, a mean of 11.25 assists per set, final weekend. She additionally registered 24 digs, 5 kills and two blocks on the week. Against Louisville, Carlson totaled 54 assists and 16 digs for her seventh double-double of the season.
• SMU enters the weekend fourth NCAA RPI, sixth in KPI and with the nation’s third strongest power of schedule.
• Both matches this coming weekend will air on ACCNX, with Chris Mycoskie (PxP) and Alex Glover (Color Analyst) on the decision from Moody Coliseum

QUICK HITS

• SMU’s offense has been buzzing all season lengthy. The Mustangs entered the week eleventh within the nation in hitting proportion, with a .288 effectivity. SMU has hit over .300 in eight matches and has an ideal 8-0 report in these matches.

• SMU is high 50 within the nation in six classes: Hitting Percentage (eleventh), Blocks Per Set (twenty second), Team Total Blocks (twenty fifth), Assists Per Set (twenty sixth), Kills Per Set (thirty third) and Winning Percentage (thirty third).

• Carlson enters the weekend ranked third nationally in assists per set (11.17) and sixth in whole assists (793), main the ACC in each classes.

• Favor Anyanwu has been one of the dominant forces on the internet defensively this season. The sophomore comes into the weekend ranked 14th within the nation in blocks per set (1.44) and eighth in whole blocks (102). She is first within the ACC in each classes.

• ACC Play Notes: Malaya Jones has turned issues up a notched in ACC matches, averaging 3.97 kills, up from her 3.62 mark in non-conference motion. SMU is averaging 1.84 aces per set in convention matches, up from a 1.49 mark in non-conference matches.

• Louisville Match Notables: The win marked the fourth-ranked win of the season and the fourth win over a high 10 crew through the Sam Erger period. SMU now has 12 wins over ranked opponents since Erger took over on the Hilltop in 2022. It was the first-ever win over Louisville for SMU. The Mustangs handed the Cardinals its first loss inside L&N Federal Credit Union Arena since Oct. 8, 2022 (39 matches). SMU is 9-0 when holding its opponents underneath .200. Malaya Jones paced the Mustangs with 22 kills, hitting .320, with 5 digs and 4 blocks. Kennedi Rogers and Jadyn Livings every logged 10 kills within the match. Rogers earned the primary double-double of her profession with 10 kills and a career-high 10 digs in opposition to the Cardinals. Averi Carlson stuffed the stat sheet Friday night time with 54 assists and 16 digs, tying her profession excessive for digs. Christa Wilburn notched a season-best 13 digs in opposition to Louisville, adopted by a 12-dig and three-ace efficiency from Jordyn Schilling.  

• Notre Dame Match Notables: The sweep marked the Mustangs’ fifth of the season and second in ACC motion. SMU improved to 14-4, 6-2 in convention play with the victory and has gained six straight matches. 

Averi Carlson reached the 4,000 profession assists milestone within the second set of the match. The senior setter completed the three-setter with 36 assists and eight digs. Carlson guided a Mustangs offensive assault that hit a season-best .388 on the street in opposition to the Fighting Irish. Malaya Jones racked up a double-double (fourth of the season) within the win with 13 kills, on a .345 hitting effectivity, to go together with 11 digs. Jordyn Schilling logged her fifth straight outing with ten or extra digs with 11 digs, 4 assists and an ace in opposition to Notre Dame. Four different Mustangs pitched in six kills, together with freshman Christa Wilburn, who added eight digs and a match-best 4 aces. Under Head Coach Sam Erger, SMU within the months of October and November are 48-9 (.842).

• Favor Anyanwu and Jadyn Livings have been added to the AVCA National Player of the Year Watch List, introduced by the affiliation on Thursday, Oct. 2. Anyanwu and Livings are two of the 17 gamers added to the preseason listing, which featured fellow Mustang Malaya Jones. With three athletes represented, the one crew to have greater than SMU is No. 1 Nebraska, which has 4 of its athletes listed.

SERIES HISTORY

• The sequence between SMU and Wake Forest is even at one win every. SMU gained final 12 months’s assembly in three units. Wake Forest gained the primary assembly again in 2023 in 4 units.

• NC State leads the sequence 3-2 over the Mustangs. The Wolfpack gained the final assembly in final season’s common season finale.

 

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT

The Wake Forest Demon Deacons

• Wake Forest is 9-10 total and 3-5 in ACC motion.

• Last season, Wake Forest went 13-18, 5-15 in ACC video games.

• The Demon Deacons break up their two matchups final week, sweeping Clemson of their exhibiting.

 

The NC State Wolfpack

• NC State is 10-8, 3-5 in ACC play, coming into the weekend.

• The Wolfpack went 16-13 in 2024, 11-9 in ACC video games.

• NC State fell to Florida in straight units within the opening spherical of the NCAA Tournament final season.

GROW WITH THE NEW LOOK MUSTANGS

• Fans will get to develop with the brand new look Mustangs for years to come back. 11 of the 17 gamers on SMU’s 2025 roster are underclassmen and 4 of the seven starters are freshman or sophomores.

• SMU needed to exchange 95% of its level manufacturing from a season in the past. With 9 productive gamers graduating a season in the past, Coach Erger and workers have reloaded their roster for the 2025 season, as they return no starters from this system’s historic season.

• Production misplaced by the numbers: Set Played: 87%, Kills: 95%, Attacks: 96%, Assists: 99%, Digs: 95%.

• The highest returning factors scorer is sophomore Natalia Newsome, who logged 56.5 factors in her rookie season, with 44 kills and 21 blocks.

• SMU additionally introduced in six transfers and 7 gamers out of highschool to go together with 4 returners.

• Each of the six transfers SMU introduced have NCAA Tournament expertise of their careers.

AVCA RANKINGS: WEEK 8

• SMU Volleyball moved to No. 7 within the newest AVCA/TARAFLEX Division I WVB Poll, launched on Monday by the affiliation. It is the very best rating in program historical past, surpassing final week’s No. 8 rating.

• The Mustangs had been ranked No. 10 within the 2025 preseason rating, marking the primary time that this system was ranked going into the season.

• SMU is the third highest ranked ACC squad, trailing No. 4 Pitt and No. 5 Stanford. After the No. 7 Mustangs, Louisville is No. 8, Miami is No. 15 and North Carolina is No. 21. Georgia Tech is receiving votes.

• The Mustangs cracked the highest 25 for the primary time in final 12 months’s historic season. The Mustangs have been ranked in 22 straight polls. 

  

ALL-ACC PRESEASON TEAM

• Malaya Jones, Averi Carlson and Favor Anyanwu had been voted to the All-ACC Preseason crew by the ACC coaches.

• The 2024 Preseason Volleyball All-ACC Team consisted of 18 gamers and was voted on by the league’s head coaches.

• Pitt leads the best way with probably the most gamers on this 12 months’s preseason crew, with 4 representatives. SMU, Stanford, and Louisville comply with, every having three gamers listed.

• The Mustangs are already residing as much as the preseason hype. Carlson has gained three of the six ACC Setter of the Week awards, whereas Jones was named National Player of the Week and ACC Offensive Player of the Week after opening weekend.

 

ACC PRESEASON POLL

• SMU was chosen fourth within the ACC Preseason Poll by the league’s head coaches.

• The Mustangs completed fourth within the ACC a season in the past after being picked sixth within the 2024 preseason.

• SMU trails defending ACC Champion, Pitt, then Louisville and Stanford, whereas North Carolina rounded out the highest 5 behind SMU.

 

YEAR FOUR FOR ERGER

• Head Coach Sam Erger is in 12 months 4 as SMU’s head volleyball coach. Erger appears to be like to proceed the success of this system with back-to-back NCAA match second-round appearances and three straight 20-win seasons, the second-longest streak in program historical past. That consists of going 16-4 within the ACC final 12 months. SMU has 11 whole 20-win seasons, three of that are within the three seasons underneath Erger.

• Erger has already taken SMU Volleyball to new heights in simply three full seasons. Before the Erger’s tenure, SMU had solely been to 2 NCAA Tournaments, within the 2015 and 2016 seasons. 

• Head Coach Sam Erger is 87-29 (.750) as head coach at SMU.

• Erger is 55-12 (82.1%) in convention matches on the Hilltop, successful 15+ in every of her full three seasons.

• Erger has 12 ranked wins underneath her belt at SMU, 4 over high 10 groups.