SOUTH BEND, Ind. (SMU) – No. 8 SMU Volleyball completed its stellar week with a 3-0 victory over Notre Dame (7-9, 4-4 ACC) Sunday in South Bend. The sweep marked the Mustangs' fifth of the season and second in ACC action.

SMU improved to 14-4, 6-2 in conference play with the victory and has won six straight matches. 

Averi Carlson reached the 4,000 career assists milestone in the second set of the match. The senior setter finished the three-setter with 36 assists and eight digs. Carlson guided a Mustangs offensive attack that hit a season-best .388 on the road against the Fighting Irish.
 
Malaya Jones racked up a double-double in the win with 13 kills, on a .345 hitting efficiency, to go along with 11 digs. Natalia Newsome was efficient in her performance on Sunday, ending with seven kills on 10 swings.
 
Jordyn Schilling logged her fifth straight outing with ten or more digs with 11 digs, four assists and an ace against Notre Dame. Four other Mustangs pitched in six kills, including freshman Christa Wilburn, who added eight digs and a match-best four aces.
 
MATCH NOTES: 

• It was Jones' fourth double-double of the season and 21st of her career. Jones has reached the double-digit kill mark in four straight matches.
• SMU improved to 2-0 over Notre Dame in the all-time series. Both wins have been sweeps over the Irish.
• Wilburn logged three or more aces for the fourth time this season. She leads the Mustangs with 26 this year.
• SMU is 8-0 win hitting over .300 this season, 4-0 in ACC outings.
• Under Head Coach Sam Erger, SMU in the months of October and November are 48-9 (.842).

 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
SET ONE | After a 2-0 deficit to start, SMU quickly adjusted itself, gathering the lead with a 5-0 run that included gathering points in a variety of ways, including three kills, two blocks and an ace. The lead put the Mustangs up 8-4. SMU extended its advantage to six (11-5) before a strong stretch by the Fighting Irish got them within two at 19-17. SMU would collect points on five of the next six rallies to reach set point at 24-18. After three straight from Notre Dame, a kill from Wilburn gave SMU the 25-21 set one victory. SMU hit .393 in the first set, led by Jones and Rogers with five and four kills, respectively.
 
SET TWO | Notre Dame worked for a 13-10 lead in the early portion of the second frame. After a 3-0 spurt by SMU, guided by a service run by Wilburn that included a kill and an ace by the freshman, the Irish pushed their lead back out to three, entering the red zone with a 21-18 lead. The Mustangs kept battling, halting Notre Dame's set point opportunity with three straight kills to end the frame, including back-to-back terminations from Wilburn to close the set out. The Mustangs hit a dominant .410 in the frame as setter Carlson dished out 17 assists.
 
SET THREE | SMU used the late set heroics in the second to propel it into a dominant showing in set three. The Mustangs went up 8-3 and then erupted for five straight to go up 19-10 midway through the second, due in part to another long serving run for Wilburn. Notre Dame fought for some points late in the frame, but SMU closed the door on any hope that the Irish had on a kill from Jones to win the final set 25-19.
 
SMU LEADERS:
SMU Kills Leader: Malaya Jones (13)
SMU Assist Leader: Averi Carlson (36)
SMU Digs Leader: Jordyn Schilling/Malaya Jones (11)
SMU Blocks Leader: Favor Anyanwu/Natalia Newsome (2)
SMU Ace Leader: Christa Wilburn (4)
SMU Points Leader: Malaya Jones (13.0)
 
Up Next: SMU returns home for two matches next week, starting with a battle against Wake Forest on Friday, Oct. 24 at 7 p.m. CT on ACCNX.