SETTING THE SCENE
• After four straight matches away from Dallas, SMU returns home for the weekend for two matches, which start a four-match stretch against schools from the state of North Carolina. The Mustangs will take on Wake Forest and NC State inside Moody Coliseum on Friday and Sunday.
• SMU brings a six-match win streak into the weekend, tied for the longest winning streak of the season.
• The NCAA DI women's volleyball committee announced SMU Volleyball as No. 5 in its in-season top 16 rankings on Sunday. The Mustangs are one of four ACC teams to make the rankings and have wins over two of the 16 teams selected by the committee.
• SMU Volleyball moved up to No. 7 this week in the AVCA rankings after winning on the road over No. 4 Louisville and Notre Dame last week. No. 7 surpasses the No. 8 ranking from the previous poll as the highest in program history.
• Averi Carlson earned her fifth ACC Setter of the Week honor after recording 90 assists, an average of 11.25 assists per set, last weekend. She also registered 24 digs, five kills and two blocks on the week. Against Louisville, Carlson totaled 54 assists and 16 digs for her seventh double-double of the season.
• SMU enters the weekend fourth NCAA RPI, sixth in KPI and with the country's third strongest strength of schedule.
• Both matches this coming weekend will air on ACCNX, with Chris Mycoskie (PxP) and Alex Glover (Color Analyst) on the call from Moody Coliseum

QUICK HITS
• SMU's offense has been humming all season long. The Mustangs entered the week 11th in the nation in hitting percentage, with a .288 efficiency. SMU has hit over .300 in eight matches and has a perfect 8-0 record in those matches.
• SMU is top 50 in the country in six categories: Hitting Percentage (11th), Blocks Per Set (22nd), Team Total Blocks (25th), Assists Per Set (26th), Kills Per Set (33rd) and Winning Percentage (33rd).
• Carlson enters the weekend ranked third nationally in assists per set (11.17) and sixth in total assists (793), leading the ACC in both categories.
• Favor Anyanwu has been one of the most dominant forces at the net defensively this season. The sophomore comes into the weekend ranked 14th in the country in blocks per set (1.44) and eighth in total blocks (102). She is first in the ACC in both categories.
• ACC Play Notes: Malaya Jones has turned things up a notched in ACC matches, averaging 3.97 kills, up from her 3.62 mark in non-conference action. SMU is averaging 1.84 aces per set in conference matches, up from a 1.49 mark in non-conference matches.
• Louisville Match Notables: The win marked the fourth-ranked win of the season and the fourth win over a top 10 team during the Sam Erger era. SMU now has 12 wins over ranked opponents since Erger took over on the Hilltop in 2022. It was the first-ever win over Louisville for SMU. The Mustangs handed the Cardinals its first loss inside L&N Federal Credit Union Arena since Oct. 8, 2022 (39 matches). SMU is 9-0 when holding its opponents under .200. Malaya Jones paced the Mustangs with 22 kills, hitting .320, with five digs and four blocks. Kennedi Rogers and Jadyn Livings each logged 10 kills in the match. Rogers earned the first double-double of her career with 10 kills and a career-high 10 digs against the Cardinals. Averi Carlson stuffed the stat sheet Friday night with 54 assists and 16 digs, tying her career high for digs. Christa Wilburn notched a season-best 13 digs against Louisville, followed by a 12-dig and three-ace performance from Jordyn Schilling.  
• Notre Dame Match Notables: 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 (fourth of the season) in the win with 13 kills, on a .345 hitting efficiency, to go along with 11 digs. 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. Under Head Coach Sam Erger, SMU in the months of October and November are 48-9 (.842).
• Favor Anyanwu and Jadyn Livings have been added to the AVCA National Player of the Year Watch List, announced by the association on Thursday, Oct. 2. Anyanwu and Livings are two of the 17 players added to the preseason list, which featured fellow Mustang Malaya Jones. With three athletes represented, the only team to have more than SMU is No. 1 Nebraska, which has four of its athletes listed.

SERIES HISTORY
• The series between SMU and Wake Forest is even at one win each. SMU won last year's meeting in three sets. Wake Forest won the first meeting back in 2023 in four sets.
• NC State leads the series 3-2 over the Mustangs. The Wolfpack won the last meeting in last season's regular season finale.
 
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
The Wake Forest Demon Deacons
• Wake Forest is 9-10 overall and 3-5 in ACC action.
• Last season, Wake Forest went 13-18, 5-15 in ACC games.
• The Demon Deacons split their two matchups last week, sweeping Clemson in their showing.
 
The NC State Wolfpack
• NC State is 10-8, 3-5 in ACC play, entering the weekend.
• The Wolfpack went 16-13 in 2024, 11-9 in ACC games.
• NC State fell to Florida in straight sets in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament last season.

GROW WITH THE NEW LOOK MUSTANGS
• Fans will get to grow with the new look Mustangs for years to come. 11 of the 17 players on SMU's 2025 roster are underclassmen and four of the seven starters are freshman or sophomores.
• SMU had to replace 95% of its point production from a season ago. With nine productive players graduating a season ago, Coach Erger and staff have reloaded their roster for the 2025 season, as they return no starters from the program's historic season.
• Production lost by the numbers: Set Played: 87%, Kills: 95%, Attacks: 96%, Assists: 99%, Digs: 95%.
• The highest returning points scorer is sophomore Natalia Newsome, who logged 56.5 points in her rookie season, with 44 kills and 21 blocks.
• SMU also brought in six transfers and seven players out of high school to go along with four returners.
• Each of the six transfers SMU brought have NCAA Tournament experience in their careers.

AVCA RANKINGS: WEEK 8
• SMU Volleyball moved to No. 7 in the latest AVCA/TARAFLEX Division I WVB Poll, released on Monday by the association. It is the highest ranking in program history, surpassing last week's No. 8 ranking.
• The Mustangs were ranked No. 10 in the 2025 preseason ranking, marking the first time that the program was ranked going into the season.
• SMU is the third highest ranked ACC squad, trailing No. 4 Pitt and No. 5 Stanford. After the No. 7 Mustangs, Louisville is No. 8, Miami is No. 15 and North Carolina is No. 21. Georgia Tech is receiving votes.
• The Mustangs cracked the top 25 for the first time in last year's historic season. The Mustangs have been ranked in 22 straight polls. 
  
ALL-ACC PRESEASON TEAM
• Malaya Jones, Averi Carlson and Favor Anyanwu were voted to the All-ACC Preseason team by the ACC coaches.
• The 2024 Preseason Volleyball All-ACC Team consisted of 18 players and was voted on by the league's head coaches.
• Pitt leads the way with the most players on this year's preseason team, with four representatives. SMU, Stanford, and Louisville follow, each having three players listed.
• The Mustangs are already living up to the preseason hype. Carlson has won three of the six ACC Setter of the Week awards, while Jones was named National Player of the Week and ACC Offensive Player of the Week after opening weekend.
 
ACC PRESEASON POLL
• SMU was chosen fourth in the ACC Preseason Poll by the league's head coaches.
• The Mustangs finished fourth in the ACC a season ago after being picked sixth in the 2024 preseason.
• SMU trails defending ACC Champion, Pitt, then Louisville and Stanford, while North Carolina rounded out the top five behind SMU.
 
YEAR FOUR FOR ERGER
• Head Coach Sam Erger is in year four as SMU's head volleyball coach. Erger looks to continue the success of the program with back-to-back NCAA tournament second-round appearances and three straight 20-win seasons, the second-longest streak in program history. That includes going 16-4 in the ACC last year. SMU has 11 total 20-win seasons, three of which are in the three seasons under Erger.
• Erger has already taken SMU Volleyball to new heights in just three full seasons. Before the Erger's tenure, SMU had only been to two NCAA Tournaments, in the 2015 and 2016 seasons. 
• Head Coach Sam Erger is 87-29 (.750) as head coach at SMU.
• Erger is 55-12 (82.1%) in conference matches on the Hilltop, winning 15+ in each of her full three seasons.
• Erger has 12 ranked wins under her belt at SMU, four over top 10 teams.