No. 11 SMU Set For Spherical Two With No. 5 Pitt

 
 
SETTING THE SCENE
• SMU appears to be like to regroup in a Sunday match with Pitt after a hard-fought 5 set loss to the Panthers at Moody Coliseum on Wednesday night time.
• SMU was the one crew to beat Pitt within the common season final 12 months.
• The Mustangs look to gather their third ranked win of the season and second over a high 10 opponent.
• A win in opposition to Pitt on Sunday afternoon can be the fiftieth convention win for head Coach Sam Erger at SMU.  SMU enters the weekend 49-11 in convention video games as Coach Erger is in 12 months 4 on the helm.
• SMU is 2-3 in opposition to the 4 ranked opponents it has confronted this season and 1-2 in opposition to these groups ranked within the high 10.
• Sunday’s match will air on ESPN from Pittsburgh, marking simply the second time that SMU Volleyball will likely be enjoying on ESPN. The first was final season in opposition to Louisville. Eric Frede (pxp), Emily Ehman (analyst) and Madison Fitzpatrick (sideline reporter) will likely be on the decision Sunday afternoon. 
 
QUICK HITS
• Malaya Jones and Jadyn Livings have gotten among the finest pin-hitter duos within the nation. Jones has led SMU in kills six instances whereas Livings has led the best way for 5 matches out of the 11 showings this season. Jones and Livings are each ranked high 10 within the ACC in kills per set and are the one ACC tandem to be ranked within the high 150 within the nation.  
• Despite the loss within the first matchup, Malaya Jones had an excellent outing in opposition to the Panthers, main the match with 23 kills whereas hitting .422 and recording seven digs. Jones now has reached double-digit kills in 4 straight outings. It was the eighth time this season she had 10 or extra kills, and her fourth with 20 or extra terminations.
• Freshman Maggie Croft has now had a number of aces in three straight video games. Wednesdays displaying was her fifth with a number of aces this season.
• Last season, the Mustangs had been excellent on the street, compiling a 12-2 report tied with Pitt for probably the most of any ACC crew. SMU’s .867 street successful proportion was tied for seventh greatest within the nation.
• Carlson wants yet one more ace to succeed in 100 for her profession.
 
THREE FOR FIVE ON SETTER OF THE WEEK
• SMU senior setter Averi Carlson earned her third weekly honor from the Atlantic Coast Conference on Monday, as she was named the ACC Co-Setter of the Week on Sep. 22.
• Carlson averaged 11.72 assists per set, which led the ACC, as she pushed the Mustangs to wins over Stephen F. Austin and UTEP. The Lucas, Texas native dished out 37 assists with seven digs, three blocks, and two aces within the straight set victory over SFA, the place SMU hit .383, its second-highest proportion of the season.
• In the Friday match in opposition to UTEP, Carlson had 45 assists and eight digs within the four-set victory to shut out non-conference play.
• Carlson was additionally named ACC Setter of the Week on September 1 and eight.
 
SERIES HISTORY
• SMU is 1-2 in opposition to Pittsburgh, with its lone win coming final 12 months in Dallas.
• The then-No. 15 SMU squad beat No. 1 Pitt in Moody Coliseum final season in 5 units.
• Pitt received the final matchup on its dwelling court docket with units scores of 25-17, 25-18, 25-9. 
 
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
The Pittsburgh Panthers
• Pittsburgh is 9-2 on the season and has received 9 straight after dropping the primary two matches of the season to No. 1 Nebraska after which No. 16 Florida within the AVCA First Serve Showcase in Lincoln, Nebraska.
• The Panthers had been picked to win the lead with 10 of the 18 first-place votes.
• They had 4 gamers on the All-ACC Preseason Team in Olivia Babcock, Blaire Bayless, Ryla Jones, and Bre Kelley.
• Pitt is available in at No. 5 on this week’s AVCA Coaches Poll.

NEW SEASON, NEW FACES

• 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 employees have reloaded their roster for the 2025 season, as they return no starters from this system’s historic season.

• 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 introduced in six transfers and 7 gamers out of highschool to associate with 4 returners.

• Each of the six transfers Sam Erger and firm introduced in has NCAA Tournament expertise.

 

AVCA RANKINGS: WEEK 4

• SMU Volleyball dropped to No. 11 on this week’s American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Taraflex Coaches Poll regardless of going 2-0 on the week.

• 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. No. 10 is the best rating for the Mustangs in program historical past.

• SMU is the fourth highest-ranked ACC squad, trailing T-No. 3 Stanford, No. 5 Pittsburgh, and No. 6 Louisville. After the No. 11 Mustangs, Miami and North Carolina spherical out the highest 25 at No. 24 and No. 25, respectively.  

• The Mustangs will face eight groups that opened the season ranked, together with 5 within the preseason, earlier than ACC play begins in opposition to preseason-ranked No. 3 Pitt on Wednesday, September 24, inside Moody Coliseum.

• The Mustangs cracked the highest 25 for the primary time in final 12 months’s historic season, reaching as excessive as No. 10 within the nation. The Mustangs have been ranked in 17 straight polls. 

 

JONES MAKING NATIONAL NOISE

• SMU Volleyball switch reverse hitter Malaya Jones was named to the AVCA Preseason Division I National Player of the Year Watch List, introduced by Nike Volleyball, on Friday, July 23.

• The 6-0 graduate from El Dorado Hills, Calif., is the primary participant in program historical past to earn a spot on the affiliation’s preseason checklist.

• The 2025 Preseason Watch List consists of 30 gamers from 20 totally different faculties. More gamers will be added to the mid-season checklist in October, adopted by a listing of semifinalists in November, the announcement of the finalists in mid-December, and the reveal of the Player of the Year in Kansas City, Mo., on the AVCA Awards Banquet on Friday, December 19.

• Jones is one among seven gamers within the ACC who earned a spot on the checklist. Last season, Celia Cullen and Naya Shime had been added to the mid-season checklist. 

 

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 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.

 

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 event 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 complete 20-win seasons, three of that are within the three seasons beneath 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. 

• Erger is 49-11 (81.6%) in convention matches on the Hilltop, successful 15+ in every of the three seasons.

• Erger has 10 ranked wins beneath her belt at SMU, three over high 10 groups.