No. 10 SMU Set to Host Virginia, Virginia Tech

SETTING THE SCENE
• SMU volleyball is about to host Virginia and Virginia Tech this weekend after splitting its two matchups final week.
• The Mustangs are 8-1 at Moody Coliseum this season and have swept their final three opponents at house.
• SMU volleyball enters the weekend No. 10 within the AVCA rankings and has been ranked in 24 straight polls.  
• SMU enters the week seventh in NCAA RPI, eleventh in KPI and with the nation’s fourth strongest energy of schedule.
• The program will maintain its annual Senior Day recognition on Sunday after the match in opposition to Virginia Tech. Jordyn Schilling, Madison Scheer, Malaya Jones, Averi Carlson, Casey Batenhorst and Jentry Lamirand can be acknowledged. Batenhorst and Lamirand are the primary two gamers to spend all 4 years of their school profession underneath head coach Sam Erger at SMU.
• Both matches this weekend can be streamed on ACCNX. Chris Mycoskie (pxp) and Alex Glover (analyst) could have the decision dwell from Moody Coliseum.
 
QUICK HITS
• Malaya Jones tied the trendy period SMU volleyball kill document with 27 in opposition to No. 21 North Carolina final Friday.  
• SMU’s offense has been buzzing all season lengthy. The Mustangs entered the week eighth within the nation in hitting proportion, swinging at a .294 clip. SMU has hit over .300 in 11 matches, together with seven in ACC matches.
• SMU is high 50 within the nation in six classes: Hitting Percentage (eighth), Blocks Per Set (twenty sixth), Assists Per Set (thirty second), Winning Percentage (thirty third), Kills Per Set (thirty third) and Team Blocks (thirty fifth).
• Averi Carlson enters the weekend ranked third nationally in assists per set (11.06) and eleventh in whole assists (857), main the ACC in each classes.
• Favor Anyanwu has been one of the crucial dominant forces on the web defensively this season. The sophomore comes into the weekend ranked 18th within the nation in blocks per set (1.41) and twelfth in whole blocks (120). Anyanwu can also be hitting at a extremely environment friendly clip in ACC matches, rating third within the convention with a .414 hitting proportion.
• Christa Wilburn’s 0.41 aces per set ranks third within the ACC this season. Her 34 whole aces are the third most within the convention. Wilburn wants 5 extra aces to set the SMU freshman document for many aces in a season (38 – Kendall Patterson, 2016).
• Malaya Jones has turned issues up a notch in ACC matches, averaging 4.28 kills per set, up from her 3.62 mark in non-conference motion. 
• Jordyn Schilling has logged at the least an ace in 11 of the 12 convention matches to this point. Her 18 aces are tied for second amongst anybody within the convention throughout ACC play.
• Christa Wilburn earned the primary double-double of her profession with 11 kills and 10 digs in opposition to No. 21 North Carolina.
• This season, SMU has gained 9 ACC weekly awards. During Head Coach Sam Erger‘s tenure, the Mustangs have earned 24 weekly convention honors.
• 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 record, which featured fellow Mustang Malaya Jones. With three athletes represented, the one staff to have greater than SMU is Nebraska, which has 4 of its athletes listed.

SEASONED VETS

• Malaya Jones and Averi Carlson are each among the many nation’s energetic profession leaders in kills and assists, respectively.

• Jones sits in eighth in the whole NCAA in profession kills, fourth in Division I.

• Carlson ranks twelfth out of all NCAA divisions and fourth in Division I in profession assists.

Active Career Kills (DI) – As of November 4

1.    Eva Hudson, Kentucky    1,958

2.    Mimi Colyer, Wisconsin    1,799

3.    Victoria Barrett, Alabama    1,690

4.    Malaya Jones    1,609

5.    Flormarie Heredia Colon, Miami (FL.)    1,592

Active Career Assists (DI) – As of November 4

1.    Callie Bauer, Western Ky.    4,637

2.    Jordan Karlen, Tennessee Tech    4,358

3.    Sophia Hudepohl, Lipscomb    4,254

4.    Averi Carlson, SMU    4,173

5.    Isabella Bareford, Vanderbilt    4,133

 

SERIES HISTORY

• SMU is 1-0 in opposition to Virginia, successful the one matchup final 12 months 3-0 in Charlottesville.

• SMU leads the all-time sequence over Virginia Tech 2-1.

• It would be the first journey to Dallas for each Virginia and Virginia Tech this weekend.

 

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT

The Virginia Cavaliers

• Virginia is 10-12 total and 3-9 in ACC play.

• Last season, UVA went 21-11, 11-9 within the ACC. They earned a bid to the National Invitational Volleyball Championships (NIVC) the place they fell to St. John’s (3-1) within the opening spherical.

The Virginia Tech Hokies

• Virginia Tech is 10-13, 2-10 in ACC play, getting into the weekend. VT break up its two matches final week, beating Clemson on Friday (3-1) and falling to Georgia Tech on Sunday (0-3).

• The Hokies went 7-23, 1-19 in ACC play final season.

GROW WITH THE NEW LOOK MUSTANGS

• Fans get to develop with the brand new look Mustangs for years to return. 11 of the 17 gamers on SMU’s 2025 roster are underclassmen, and 4 of the seven starters are freshmen or sophomores. Starting exterior Christa Wilburn is the youngest DI volleyball participant within the nation.

• SMU needed to change 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 associate with 4 returners.

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

AVCA RANKINGS: WEEK 10

• SMU Volleyball enters the week No. 10 within the newest AVCA/TARAFLEX Division I WVB Poll, launched on Monday by the affiliation.

• Seventh within the highest rating in program historical past, a mark the Mustangs held for the final two weeks.

• The Mustangs have 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 fourth-highest ranked ACC squad, trailing No. 3 Pitt, No. 5 Stanford and No. 7 Louisville. After the No. 10 Mustangs, Miami is No. 14 and North Carolina is No. 15. 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 24 straight polls.

  

ALL-ACC PRESEASON TEAM

• Malaya Jones, Averi Carlson and Favor Anyanwu have been voted to the All-ACC Preseason staff 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 essentially the most gamers on this 12 months’s preseason staff, with 4 representatives. SMU, Stanford, and Louisville observe, every having three gamers listed.

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.

 

SMU MUSTANG TO DALLAS PULSE

• Since the 2025 season began, three Mustangs have turn into affiliated with the brand new MLV staff in Dallas, the Dallas Pulse.

• Director of Operations, Brittany Clark, has taken the identical position for the Dallas Pro staff, and Assistant Coach Clayton Bristow has been introduced as an Assistant for the newly fashioned staff

• The two have joined former Mustang All-American Setter and present graduate assistant Celia Cullen, who was signed to the membership’s first roster earlier within the 12 months.

YEAR FOUR FOR ERGER

• Head Coach Sam Erger is in 12 months 4 as SMU’s head volleyball coach. Erger goals to construct on this system’s success with back-to-back NCAA match second-round appearances and three consecutive 20-win seasons, the second-longest streak in program historical past. That contains 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 tenure, SMU had solely been to 2 NCAA Tournaments, within the 2015 and 2016 seasons.

• Head Coach Sam Erger is 90-30 (.750) as head coach at SMU.

• Erger is 58-13 (81.7%) in convention matches on the Hilltop, successful 15+ in every of her three seasons.

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