#10 SMU (23-6, 15-3 ACC) vs. #21 Florida State (20-8, 12-6 ACC)
Wednesday, November 27, 2024 – 11 a.m. CT
Tully Gymnasium  – Tallahassee, Fla.
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SETTING THE SCENE
• No. 10 SMU Volleyball is set to battle No. 21 Florida State for the second time this season in their final road regular season game Wednesday at 11 a.m. CT on ACCNX.
• SMU brings an eight-game winning streak into the matchup with the Seminoles, their longest winning streak of the season.
• The Mustangs enter the weekend with a 15-3 record in the ACC and tied for third place in the conference standings with No. 6 Stanford.
• SMU Volleyball kept their No. 10 ranking after going 2-0 this past week with a 3-2 win over NC State on Friday and a sweep at Wake Forest on Sunday.
• Naya Shime, Natalie Foster, and Maya Tabron were drafted in this year's Pro Volleyball Federation Draft on Monday.
 
OH, HOW SWEEP IT IS
• The Mustangs have swept 14 opponents this season, ninth over ACC teams and four over ranked opponents.
• 14 sweeps this season are tied for the fourth most in program history.
• Last season, SMU set the program record for sweeps in a single season, with 19 in their last season in the American.
 
MOST SWEEPS IN A SEASON
1. 19 – 2023
T-2. 16 – 2015
T-2. 16 – 2016
T-4. 14 – 2022
T-4. 14 – 2024
 
MUSTANGS GOING PRO
• Three SMU Volleyball players have been drafted in the 2024 Pro Volleyball Federation Draft, announced by the league on Monday.
• SMU volleyball is one of five programs with three selections in the draft, joining Nebraska, Louisville, Penn State, and Wisconsin.
• Opposite hitter Naya Shime was the first Mustang off the board, picked by the Grand Rapids Rise as the No. 13 overall pick (Round 2, Pick 5). 
• Middle blocker Natalie Foster was the second Mustang selected in this year's draft, picked right after Shime by the Orlando Valkyries at No.14 (Round 2, Pick 6).
• Maya Tabron was the final SMU player selected in the 2024 draft, going to the San Diego Mojo at No. 23 overall (Round 3, Pick 7).
• Four Mustangs have been drafted at SMU under Coach Erger. Shime, Foster, and Tabron join middle blocker Emma Clothier, who was drafted by the Grand Rapids Rise last season.
DOUBLE-DOUBLES FOR TABRON AND SHIME
• Maya Tabron logged her team-leading 11th double-double of the season in the Mustang's win over NC State with 15 kills and ten digs.
• Naya Shime collected her second double-double of the season and ninth of her career in the Mustangs sweep of Wake Forest Sunday with ten kills and digs.
 
FOSTER VERSUS THE WOLFPACK
• Natalie Foster notched her highest kill outing of the season with 14 against NC State in the five-set win.
• Foster did so while hitting .500 with six blocks and an ace. It was the second double-digit kill performance for the standout middle this season.
 
YOU GET 1,000… YOU GET 1,000
• Ellie Bolton is the latest SMU player to reach a milestone this season, collecting her 1,000th dig in the 3-0 victory at Wake Forest.
• Bolton is the fourth Mustangs who have reached 1,000 digs and/or kills this season, joining Naya Shime, Jamison Wheeler, and Maya Tabron.
 
NATIONAL NUMBERS
• The Mustangs are ranked in the top 50 nationally in seven categories entering the weekend.
• SMU ranks 16th in blocks per set (2.69), 22nd in hitting percentage (.274), 26th in winning percentage (.793), 30th in aces per set (1.81), 31st in total team blocks (279.5), 48th in team service aces (188), and 49th in opponents hitting percentage (.177)
• Individually, Natalie Foster ranks seventh in the country and second in the ACC in aces per set at .61. Her 63 aces are first in the conference and seventh in the country. She is also third in the conference and 39th in the nation in hitting percentage (.379).
• Celia Cullen currently ranks first in the conference in total assists with 1,026 and third in the ACC in assists per set this season at 9.87.
• Nnedi Okammor is fifth in the conference in total blocks with 126 this season and sixth in blocks per set at 1.22.
 
GIVE CULLEN HER CREDIT
• The Mustangs are one of the country's most efficient hitting teams, largely due to their stud setter, Celia Cullen. The Mustangs are in the top 25 in hitting percentage this season.
• Cullen leads the ACC in total assists and is third in assists per set this season.
• Cullen is fifth all-time in assists at SMU in just three seasons on the Hilltop.
• The Brighton, Michigan, native has won ACC Setter of the Week twice this season.
 
WHEELER JOINS ELITE COMPANY
• Senior outside hitter Jamison Wheeler reached 1,000 digs in the win over No. 25 North Carolina.
• Wheeler surpassed 1,000 career kills earlier in the season against Clemson.
• She is just the seventh SMU player to log 1,000 career digs and kills.
 
1. Erin Pryer (1789 K/1238 D) – 1996-99
2. Klecka (1311 K/1097 D) – 1997-2000
3. Beth Karasek (1450 K/1416 D) – 2001-04
4. Rachel Giubilato (1310 K/1155 D) – 2004-07
5. Kathryn Wilkerson (1445 K/1588 D) – 2007-10
6. Dana Powell (1539 K/1641 D) – 2008-11
7. Jamison Wheeler (1128 K/1018 D) – 2021-24
 
ACE QUEENS
• The Mustangs have 188 service aces this season and need four more to break the program record for aces in a season (191 - 1997).
• Natalie Foster has been a game-changer for the Mustangs at the service line, breaking the previous single-season ace record of 51 (Caroline Young – 2013) earlier in the year against North Carolina. She has extended that record to 63.
 
TOP 5 SINGLE-SEASON ACE LEADERS
1. 63 – Natalie Foster - 2024
2. 51 - Caroline Young -2013
3. 48 - Jamison Wheeler - 2022
4. 47 - Caroline Young - 2014
T-5. 46 - Melissa Godwin - 1999
T-5. 46 - Melissa Godwin – 1997
 
A LOOK AT THE OPPONENTS
• The Seminoles bring a 20-8 record into the weekend and a 12-6 mark in the ACC.
• Florida State won both matchups last week, with two five-set victories over No. 15 Georgia Tech and Clemson.  
• Last season, the Seminoles were ACC Co-Champions with Pitt, going k went 23-9 overall and 16-2 in ACC play.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES
• SMU leads the overall series 2-0 over the Seminoles, sweeping Florida the last two seasons.  
 
TWO-HEADED MONSTER
• Naya Shime (13th) and Maya Tabron (20th) lead the Mustangs and are both top 20 in the ACC in kills per set.
• The tandem has a combined 39 double-digit kill performances this season.
 
PONIES IN THE RANKINGS
• SMU held the No. 10 spot in the latest AVCA/TARAFLEX Poll.
• 10th is the highest ranking in program history, a spot they've held for four consecutive weeks.
• The Ponies are the fourth highest-ranked team in the ACC and are one of seven teams representing the conference in the top 25.
• The Mustangs are 7-4 against teams currently in the rankings or receiving votes.
 
RPI & KPI
• SMU is ranked 8th in this week's RPI rankings, fourth highest in the ACC.
• The Mustangs are 11-6 against opponents currently in the top 50 and 12-6 against teams in the top 100.
• In KPI, the Mustangs are 9th and fourth highest in the ACC.
 
EXPERIENCE GROUP
• SMU has won one of the country's oldest, most experienced rosters this season.
• The Mustangs have seven graduate students, two seniors, two juniors, and just three freshmen.
• The only other school with nine graduate students/seniors is the College of Charleston, which has four seniors and five graduates.
 
AMONG THE NATIONS BEST
• Graduate students Celia Cullen and Naya Shime have been added to the 2024 Division I AVCA Player of the Year Award Watch List, announced by the association on Friday. Cullen and Shime have been instrumental to the Mustangs' historic success this season.
• Last month, the AVCA created a Watch List for its 2024 Division I Player of the Year Award, presented by Nike Volleyball. Friday, the association added 16 players to the original list of 36, with Cullen and Shime being two of the 16.
• The 2024 Watch List will be narrowed down in early November, and then the names of the finalists will be released before the AVCA Convention in mid-December. The 2024 AVCA Player of the Year will be announced on Friday, Dec. 20, in Louisville, Ky., during the AVCA Convention.
 
ATTENDANCE RECORDS
• SMU has set the four highest single-match attendance records in program history this season. SMU had 6,673 people in attendance in their win over No. 2 Nebraska, 3,015 in the four-set loss to No. 4 Louisville, 2,317 in their five-set win over No. 1 Pitt, and 1,883 in their 3-1 victory over Houston.
• With an attendance of 2,317 against No. 1 Pitt, SMU Volleyball broke the previous single-season record set in 2019 (10,890 in 13 home games).
 
MUSTANGS CHASING MILESTONES AND SEASON RECORDS
• Celia Cullen needs 53 digs to reach the 1,000 career digs.
• Jamison Wheeler needs 44 kills to move up to ninth in the SMU record books.
• Nnedi Okammor needs nine blocks to crack the top 10 in single-season blocks at SMU.