Wednesday, Nov. 26 • 1:00 p.m. CT  

Moody Coliseum • Dallas, Texas  

ACCNX • Live Stats • Match Notes • SMU Mobile App  

   

 

SETTING THE SCENE   

• The No. 8-ranked Mustangs begin the final week of the regular season with a midweek match against Florida State at Moody Coliseum on Wednesday at 1 p.m. CT.     

• SMU brings a seven-match winning streak into the contest and has won 15 of its last 16 matches.    

• SMU enters the week eighth in NCAA RPI, tenth in KPI and with the country's ninth toughest schedule.     

• The Mustangs are 12-1 at home this season, aiming to pick up their 13th on Wednesday night.   

• SMU has had 20 or more wins in each of the four seasons under head coach Sam Erger.  

• The Mustangs will hit the road on Saturday for their final regular season match to face NC State at 12 p.m. CT in Raleigh.   

• Both matches will be streamed on ACCNX with Chris Mycoskie (PxP) and Alex Glover (color analyst) on the call, live from Moody Coliseum.   

• The NCAA Selection Show will air on Sunday, Nov. 30, at 5 p.m. CT on ESPN.         

 

• SMU Volleyball setter Averi Carlson and opposite Malaya Jones were selected in the 2025 Major League Volleyball Draft on Monday.     

• The Atlanta Vibe selected Setter Averi Carlson in the first round with the No. 7 overall pick.   

• Jones was selected No. 9 overall by the Dallas Pulse and will team up with former Mustang setter Celia Cullen. The Pulse traded up to the first pick of the second round to take Jones.   

• In the last three seasons, six players have been drafted to play professional volleyball under head coach Sam Erger at SMU.   

• Carlson became the 24th SMU athlete to be drafted in the first round across all sports. (Men's Soccer – 12, Football, 7, Men's Basketball 3, Baseball 1, Volleyball 1) 

Emma Clothier 23' - No. 25 pick  

Natalie Foster 24' - No. 13 pick  

Naya Shime 24' - No. 14 pick  

Maya Tabron 24' - No. 23 pick  

Averi Carlson 25' - No. 7 pick  

Malaya Jones 25' - No. 9 pick 

 

• SMU put on two dominant performances last week in sweeps over Boston College and Syracuse.   

• The Mustangs finished the week with a .035 opponent hitting percentage, the second best in the country.   

• SMU held its two opponents to just 6.0 kills per set in the two matchups.  

• The Mustangs were one of the best serving teams in the country last week, averaging 2.83 aces per set, which ranked third nationally. SMU logged 13 aces in the win over Boston College, the most aces in a match since Sept. 23, 2023, when Sam Erger's club had 15 against UTSA.   

• With the wins, SMU has now won seven straight matches and is the winner of 15 of its last 16 contests. The Mustangs have swept their previous seven opponents at Moody Coliseum. 

 

• Averi Carlson enters the weekend ranked second nationally in assists per set (11.07) and 12th in total assists (1,151), leading the ACC in both categories.     

• Christa Wilburn leads the Mustangs with 43 aces this season, the 5th-most in the modern scoring era and 7th-most all-time at SMU for a single season.   

• Reclassifying to play for the Mustangs this season, Wilburn is 17 and doesn't turn 18 until March 28, 2008. This makes her the youngest player in DI Volleyball on record this season.    

• The Mustangs entered the week fifth in the nation in hitting percentage, swinging at a .310 clip. SMU has hit over .300 in 16 matches, including 12 in ACC matches. SMU is set to shatter the previous season's hitting percentage of .267 from last season.  

• SMU is top 50 in the country in eight categories: Hitting Percentage (5th), Winning Percentage (21st), Blocks Per Set (30th), Kills Per Set (31st), Assists Per Set (37th), Team Total Blocks (44th), Aces Per Set 47th) and Opponent Hitting Percentage (50th).   

• Favor Anyanwu has been one of the most dominant forces at the net defensively this season, ranking 16th in the country in total blocks with 147. Her 147 blocks this season rank 8th in the modern scoring era at SMU.   

• Anyanwu is also hitting at a highly efficient clip in ACC matches, ranking fourth (.412) on the conference overall and second in league play (.431) in hitting percentage.     

• Anyanwu (.412) and Natalia Newsome (.456) both are hitting above .400 this season, which is on pace to crush SMU's all-time single-season hitting percentage record (100 kill minimum) of .393 set by Janelle Giordano in 2015. Newsome sits at the top of the ACC in the category despite missing the last few weeks due to injury.     

• SMU has four players with 20 or more aces this season, including five with 10 or more in ACC matches.  The Mustangs have 180 aces this season, drawing closer to the school record of 200 aces set by last season's squad.    

• This season, SMU has won 11 ACC weekly awards. During Head Coach Sam Erger's tenure, the Mustangs have earned 26 weekly conference honors. Averi Carlson has earned six ACC Setter of the Week awards this season.    

 

• Malaya Jones and Averi Carlson are both among the nation's active career leaders in kills and assists, respectively.    

• Jones sits in 9th in the entire NCAA in career kills, 5th in Division I.    

• Carlson ranks 12th out of all NCAA divisions and fourth in Division I in career assists.    

Active Career Kills (DI) – As of November 24    

1.    Eva Hudson, Kentucky    2,063  

2.    Mimi Colyer, Wisconsin    1,912    

3.    Flormarie Heredia Colon, Miami (FL.)   1,784    

4.    Victoria Barrett, Alabama   1,782    

     

Active Career Assists (DI) – As of November 24    

1.    Callie Bauer, Western Ky.   4,942   

2.    Jordan Karlen, Tennessee Tech   4,562    

3.    Sophia Hudepohl, Lipscomb    4,459    

5.    Isabella Bareford, Vanderbilt 4,287     

  

• SMU has yet to lose to Florida State with a perfect 4-0 record against the Seminoles. 

• The Mustangs beat the Seminoles in Tallahassee earlier this season in four. It was the first time Florida State had taken a set off SMU.  

    

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT   

The Florida State Seminoles  

• Winner of their last three, Florida State is 16-11, 10-8 in ACC action.  

• Last season, Florida State went 21-10 overall, 13-7 in league play. 

• The Noles lost in five to Ole Miss in the first round of the NCAA Tournament a season ago. 

    

 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 typical 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 13   

• SMU Volleyball remains at No. 8 in the latest AVCA/TARAFLEX Division I WVB Poll, released on Monday by the association.   

• SMU is the fourth-highest ranked ACC squad, trailing No. 4 Pitt, No. 5 Stanford and No. 7 Louisville. After the No. 8 Mustangs, Miami is No. 13, and North Carolina is No. 19.   

• The Mustangs were ranked No. 10 in the 2025 preseason ranking, marking the first time that the program was ranked going into the season.   

• The Mustangs cracked the top 25 for the first time in last year's historic season. The Mustangs have been ranked in 26 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.   

    

• Since the 2025 season started, three Mustangs have become affiliated with the new MLV team in Dallas, the Dallas Pulse.   

• Director of Operations, Brittany Clark, has taken the same role for the Dallas Pro team, and Assistant Coach Clayton Bristow has been announced as an Assistant for the newly formed team   

• The two have joined former Mustang All-American Setter and current graduate assistant Celia Cullen, who was signed to the club's first roster earlier in the year.   

    

YEAR FOUR FOR ERGER   

• Head Coach Sam Erger is in year four as SMU's head volleyball coach. Erger aims to build on the program's success with back-to-back NCAA tournament second-round appearances and three consecutive 20-win seasons, the second-longest streak in program history. That includes going 16-4 in the program's first year 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 96-30 (.762) as head coach at SMU.   

• Erger is 64-13 (83.1%) in conference matches on the Hilltop, winning 15+ in each of her first three seasons.   

• Erger has 13 ranked wins under her belt at SMU, five over top 10 teams and four over top five teams.