#17 SMU (10-3, 2-0 ACC) vs. Syracuse (12-2, 0-2 ACC)
Friday, October 4, 2024 – 6 p.m. CT
Women's Building – Syracuse, NY
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#17 SMU (10-3, 2-0 ACC) vs. Boston College (7-7, 0-2 ACC)
Sunday, October 6, 2024 – 12 p.m. CT
Margot Connell Recreation Center – Chestnut Hill, MA
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SETTING THE SCENE

• No. 17 SMU volleyball heads up north for two road ACC matches against Syracuse and Boston College on Friday and Sunday.
• The Mustangs started off the conference season 2-0 after sweeping No. 13 Georgia Tech and Clemson this past weekend.
• The two matches are games five and six of a seven-game road streak for SMU Volleyball.
• The Mustangs' sweep over No. 13 Georgia was their third over a ranked opponent this season.

MUSTANGS IN THE TOP 20

• For the first time in program history, SMU Volleyball was ranked by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA), coming in at No. 22 on the Sept. 16th edition of the poll.
• After being ranked No. 23 last week, SMU jumped six spots to No. 17 in this week's rankings with two sweeps to start ACC play.

 ACC SETTER OF THE WEEK:

• SMU graduate setter Celia Cullen has been named ACC Setter of the Week, the conference announced on Monday.
• Cullen led the ACC in assists per set this week, averaging 11.33 in the Mustangs' two road sweeps over No. 13 Georgia Tech and Clemson. She also surpassed 4,000 assists for her career in the win over the Tigers to end the week.
• The Brighton, Michigan native paced an SMU offense that hit a combined .353 this week, ranking eighth highest nationally. She also averaged 2.17 digs per set and had five blocks in the two matches.

A LOOK AT THE OPPONENTS:
Syracuse

• The Orange bring a 12-2 record into the weekend, going undefeated in non-conference play before falling to Duke and North Carolina in the first two ACC matches.
• Syracuse has yet to lose a home match, posting a 5-0 record at the Women's Building.
• Last season, the Orange went 2-26 and 0-18 in conference play.
• Syracuse was picked to finish last in the ACC in the preseason.

Boston College

• The Eagles are 7-7 and 0-2 in ACC play after falling to Duke and North Carolina last week.
• Boston College is undefeated at home so far this season, with wins over Texas Tech, EKU, and Iona.
• The Eagles return home this weekend after 11 straight matches away from home.
• Boston College was picked to finish 15th in the ACC preseason poll.

ALL-TIME SERIES:
Syracuse

• SMU leads the overall series over the Syracuse Orange 3-0.
• The Mustangs earned wins over the Orange in 2000 (3-1) and 2007 (3-2) at neutral site locations and in 2009 at Moody Coliseum (3-1).
• This weekend will be the Mustangs' first trip to Syracuse.

Boston College

• Sunday's matchup will be the first meeting between SMU Volleyball and Boston College.

LATEST AVCA POLL NOTES

• The Mustangs are one of seven teams in the ACC ranked or receiving votes in this week's edition of the poll.
• Pitt leads the pack, holding the No. 1 spot for the fourth consecutive week, followed by No. 4 Louisville, No. 5 Stanford, No. 16 Florida State, No. 17 SMU, No. 19 Georgia Tech and (RV) Miami.

PRESEASON POLLS

• SMU was picked to finish sixth in the ACC by the league's coaches in the 2024 Preseason Coaches' Poll.
• The Mustangs garnered 199 points, trailing Pitt, Stanford, Louisville, Georgia Tech, and Florida State in the poll, who all made the NCAA Championship a season ago.
• Currently, the Mustangs sit tied with seven six other teams at 2-0 and atop the ACC standings.

THREE RANKED SWEEPS

• The Mustangs swept the No. 2 Nebraska in Moody Coliseum in front of a record crowd of 6,773 people, crushing the previous record of 1,819 against TCU in 2019.
• The win over the Huskers was also the first time a non-ranked team has swept the powerhouse program in a decade.
• The match was also the highest scan in Moody for any event in the last four years.
• A week later, SMU knocked off their second-ranked opponent this season in a sweep of #18 Baylor Tuesday night in Waco with set scores of 25-21, 25-15, and 25-16
• During the Sam Erger era, the Mustangs have yet to lose to the Bears.
• The win marked just the second time SMU Volleyball has won in Waco in the program's 29-year history. 
• To start conference play, SMU went into Atlanta and took now the No. 13 ranked Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in straight sets, the team's third-ranked sweep of the season.  
• Coach Sam Erger has led the Mustangs to four of the program's five ranked wins in its history, two against Baylor in each of the last two seasons and then the wins over Nebraska and Georgia Tech.

WELCOME TO THE 1,000 KILL CLUB

• Senior outside hitter Jamison Wheeler became just the 11th player in SMU Volleyball history to earn 1,000 kills in her career.
• She reached the 1,000-point mark in the Mustangs' sweep over Clemson on Sunday.
• Wheeler needs 171 kills to crack the top 10 in career kills at SMU.

4,000 ASSISTS AND COUNTING

• Graduate setter Celia Cullen surpassed 4,000 career assists in Sunday's win over Clemson,
• Cullen concluded her milestone outing with 32 assists, ten digs, and three blocks, her second double-double of the season.
• 2,819 of those assists have come at SMU, which is currently seventh on SMU's career leaders list. Cullen needs 289 more assists to take sole possession of sixth place in the SMU record book.

MUSTANGS CHASING MILESTONES

• Jamison Wheeler needs 61 digs to reach 1,000 digs for her career.
• Graduate Setter Celia Cullen needs 158 digs to reach the 1,000 career digs mark.
• With 57 more digs, Ellie Bolton will join the 1,000-career dig club.
• Maya Tabron looks to collect 102 more digs by the end of the year to reach the 1,000-dig mark in her career.

NATIONAL NUMBERS

• After the conclusion of last week's play, the Mustangs are ranked in the top-40 in six different categories and top-20 in three categories.
• SMU ranks 8th in the country in hitting percentage (.295), 14th in opponent hitting percentage (.142), and 16th in blocks per set (2.80).
• Individually, Natalie Foster has been a weapon at the service line, ranking 12th in the country and first in the ACC in aces with 30 this season. Her 0.65 aces per set is good for 8th best in the nation and sits atop the conference ranks.
• Celia Cullen currently ranks second in the conference in total assists with 464 and third in assists per set this season at 10.09.

ATTENDANCE RECORDS AT MOODY

• SMU has set the two highest attendance records in program history this season. SMU had 6,673 people in attendance in their win over #2 Nebraska and 1,883 in their 3-1 victory over Houston a little over a week later.