SETTING THE SCENE
• No. 10 SMU begins a four-match road stretch this weekend as it travels to the Sunshine State for matches against Florida State on Friday night and No. 18 Miami on Sunday afternoon.
• The Mustangs jumped back into the top-10 at No. 10 after going 2-0 last weekend with victories over Georgia Tech (3-1) and Clemson (3-0).
• In the first public NCAA RPI rankings of the season, SMU comes in at No. 5. SMU is battle-tested, having played six teams that are in the top 25 in RPI this season, entering the weekend. The Mustangs also have the third strongest strength of schedule in the country.
• Coach Erger and company aim to collect their first two road victories in ACC play. The Mustangs went 9-1 in conference road matches last season.
• SMU looks to earn its third ranked win of the season when it takes on No. 18 Miami in Coral Gables to cap off the weekend on Sunday. 
• Graduate opposite hitter Malaya Jones needs just 25 kills to reach the 1,500 kill mark for her career.
• Friday's matchup with Florida State will air on ACCNX, while SMU will battle Miami Sunday on the ACC Network, its fifth national broadcast of the season. AJ Ricketts (PxP) and Kelly Burke (Analyst) will have the call from Coral Gables.

QUICK HITS
• SMU's 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.
• Averi Carlson enters the weekend first in the ACC and third in the country in assists per set at 11.16. She is also 6th in the country and first in the ACC in total assists with 614. Anyanwu enters the two matches in Florida ranked 19th in the nation in blocks per set and 17th in total blocks, good for fourth and first in the ACC, respectively.
• Jones and Livings are one of the best pin-hitter duos in the country. Jones and Livings both enter the week ranked in the top 10 in the ACC in kills per set, the only tandem in the ACC and one of nine duos in the country to be ranked in the top 150 nationally in that category.
• Georgia Tech Notables: Livings went for a stellar 18 kills and 11 digs in Friday's four-set win over Georgia Tech. It marked her third double-double of the season and seventh of her career. Madison Scheer poured in a season-best 10 kills against Georgia Tech, reaching double-figures for the first time in her SMU career.
• Clemson Notables: Carlson notched her 100th career ace on the first serve of the match Sunday against Clemson. Carlson also had a 28-assist, 14-dig double-double in the sweep over the Tigers, the fifth of the season for the senior and the 27th of her career. SMU hit .367 against Clemson, its highest percentage in ACC play through four matches. SMU improved to 7-0 this season when holding its opponents to a .200 or lower attack percentage.

SERIES HISTORY
• SMU has yet to lose to Florida State, holding a perfect 3-0 record. Each match has been a sweep in SMU's favor, and two of the three matches have been in Tallahassee.
• The series between the Hurricanes and the Mustangs is leveled at one match each. SMU won the most recent of the two meetings, defeating Miami 3-1 at home last season.
 
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
The Florida State Seminoles
• Florida State is 8-5, 2-2 in ACC play, entering the weekend. The Seminoles went 1-1 both weeks to start ACC play.
• Last season, FSU went 21-10, 13-7 in the ACC. The Seminoles fell to Ole Miss in five sets in the first round of the NCAA Tournament of Omaha Regional.
• The Seminoles were picked 8th in the ACC Preseason Coaches Poll.
 
The Miami Hurricanes
• Miami is 14-1 and one of four teams to start ACC play 4-0.
• The Hurricanes have won 14 straight matches after falling to Indiana at home in their season opener.
• Miami was picked 7th in the ACC Preseason Coaches Poll. Flormarie Heredia Colon and Ariana Rodriguez represent Miami on the Preseason All-ACC Team.

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 6
• SMU got back inside the top-10 at No. 10 in the latest edition of the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Taraflex Coaches Poll.
• The Mustangs were ranked No. 10 in the 2025 preseason ranking, marking the first time that the program was ranked going into the season. No. 10 is the highest ranking in program history for the Mustangs.
• SMU is the fourth highest-ranked ACC squad, trailing No. 4 Pitt, No. 5 Louisville and No. 6 Stanford. After the No. 10 Mustangs, Miami is No. 18 and North Carolina is No. 23. Georgia Tech is receiving 18 votes.
• The Mustangs cracked the top 25 for the first time in last year's historic season, reaching as high as No. 10 in the country. The Mustangs have been ranked in 19 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. 
• Erger is 51-12 (80.95%) in conference matches on the Hilltop, winning 15+ in each of her full three seasons.
• Erger has 10 ranked wins under her belt at SMU, three over top 10 teams.