SETTING THE SCENE
• SMU brings an eight-match winning streak into a weekend where it faces No. 21 North Carolina on Friday and Duke on Sunday in the Tar Heel State. The Mustangs' eight straight victories is the longest active streak in the ACC. North Carolina, Stanford and Pitt sit atop the ACC standings with 9-1 conference records.
• The Mustangs have swept their last three opponents and have hit over .300 in each of the three matches.
• SMU volleyball held its No. 7 spot in this week's AVCA rankings. It is the highest ranking in program history.
• The Mustangs aim to collect their fifth ranked win of the season when they take on No. 21 North Carolina on Friday in Chapel Hill.
• For the second time this season, graduate opposite Malaya Jones has been named Atlantic Coast Conference Offensive Player of the Week, announced by the league on Monday. Jones averaged 5.33 kills per set and 6.08 points per set this week in the Mustangs' two sweeps over Wake Forest and NC State. She ended the week with a .625 hitting percentage, which led the ACC and ranked fifth best nationally. Jones also recorded just two attack errors on her combined 48 swings in the two matchups.
• SMU enters the week sixth in NCAA RPI, eighth in KPI and with the country's third strongest strength of schedule.
• Friday's match will air on the ACC Network, the Mustangs' sixth match on national television this season. It will be the program's first-ever trip to both North Carolina and Duke.
 
QUICK HITS
• Malaya Jones broke the program's record for single-match hitting percentage on 20 or more attempts, hitting .750 against the Wolfpack on Sunday. Jones broke the hitting percentage record that held up for 26 years. Erin Pryor held the record prior with a .720 attack percentage (19-1-25) against Harvard on Sept. 25, 1999.
The percentage is tied for second-best in the nation this season. Jones logged 16 kills on 20 swings with only one error in the win while adding four blocks. Malaya Jones has reached double-figure kills in six consecutive matches. 
• SMU's offense has been humming all season long. The Mustangs entered the week ninth in the nation in hitting percentage, swinging at a .295 clip. SMU has hit over .300 in ten matches, including each of the last three. SMU's .392 hitting percentage against Wake Forest last week is the highest of the season thus far.
• SMU is top 50 in the country in six categories: Hitting Percentage (9th), Blocks Per Set (20th), Winning Percentage (23rd), Team Total Blocks (27th), Assists Per Set (29th), and Kills Per Set (31st).
• Averi Carlson enters the weekend ranked second nationally in assists per set (11.13) and ninth in total assists (857), 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 (111). She is first in the ACC in both categories.
• Christa Wilburn's 0.42 aces per set ranks fourth in the ACC this season. Her 31 total aces are the third most in the conference. Wilburn needs eight more aces to set the SMU freshman record for most aces in a season (38 - Kendall Patterson, 2016).
• ACC Play Notes: Malaya Jones has turned things up a notch in ACC matches, averaging 4.18 kills per set, up from her 3.62 mark in non-conference action. Jordyn Schilling has logged at least an ace in 10 straight matches and has 17 in ACC play, the second most in the conference through the first 10 matches.
• Wake Forest Match Notables: Wilburn logged four aces in the win over Wake Forest, her fifth match this season with three or more. Madison Scheer had a breakout match against Wake Forest, going for a season-best 11 kills while hitting .435. Maggie Croft got her first start against the Demon Deacons and registered three kills, two digs, and four blocks.
• NC State Match Notables: Jones' 16 kills against both NC State and Wake Forest are the most by a Mustang in a three-set match this season. SMU's 25-7 victory in set three is the largest set victory by the Mustangs this season. Freshman Sarah Frazee got the first start of her career and logged a season-best seven digs.
• This season, SMU has won nine ACC weekly awards. During Head Coach Sam Erger's tenure, the Mustangs have earned 24 weekly conference honors.
• Favor Anyanwu and Jadyn Livings were 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 Nebraska, which has four of its athletes listed.
 
SEASONED VETS
• Malaya Jones and Averi Carlson are both among the nation's active career leaders in kills and assists, respectively.
• Jones sits in eighth in the entire NCAA in career kills, fourth in Division I.
• Carlson ranks 12th out of all NCAA divisions and fourth in Division I in career assists.
 
SERIES HISTORY
• North Carolina leads the overall series 2-1. SMU won the last meeting (3-1) over the then-No. 25 Tar Heels in 2024 inside Moody Coliseum.
• Duke leads the overall series 2-1 over SMU. SMU swept the Blue Devils at home last season. 
 
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
The North Carolina Tar Heels
• UNC is 16-3, 9-1 in ACC play. They enter the weekend tied for first in the ACC standings.
• Last season, North Carolina went 23-8, 14-6 in ACC games.
• UNC won its first-round matchup of the NCAA Tournament last season 3-1 over Yale before falling to eventual champion Penn State in the second round.
• The Tar Heels were picked fifth by the coaches in the preseason. Junior outside Safi Hampton represented the Tar Heels on the Preseason All-ACC Team.
 
The Duke Blue Devils
• Duke is 5-16, 2-8 in ACC play, entering the weekend.
• The Blue Devils went 10-21, 6-14 in ACC play last season.
• Duke has lost four straight matches. Its two ACC wins are over Clemson and NC State.

GROW WITH THE NEW LOOK MUSTANGS
• Fans 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 freshmen 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 in has NCAA Tournament experience in their careers.

AVCA RANKINGS: WEEK 9
• SMU Volleyball stays at 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.
• 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 23 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.

 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 program's success 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 tenure, SMU had only been to two NCAA Tournaments, in the 2015 and 2016 seasons. 
• Head Coach Sam Erger is 89-29 (.754) as head coach at SMU.
• Erger is 57-12 (82.6%) in conference matches on the Hilltop, winning 15+ in each of her three seasons.
• Erger has 12 ranked wins under her belt at SMU, four over top 10 teams.