#8 SMU (24-5, 16-3 ACC) at N.C. State (15-14, 8-1 ACC)
Saturday, Nov. 29 • 12 p.m. CT
Reynolds Coliseum • Raleigh, N.C.
SETTING THE SCENE
• The No. 8-ranked Mustangs travel to Raleigh, North Carolina, for their final regular-season match to face NC State on Friday at 12 p.m. CT.
• SMU brings an eight-match winning streak into the contest and has won 16 of its last 17 matches.
• SMU enters the matchup seventh in NCAA RPI, 10th in KPI and with the country's 10th
toughest schedule.
• The Mustangs are 9-3 on the road this season, 7-2 in ACC play.
• SMU has had 20 or more wins in each of the four seasons under head coach Sam Erger.
• A win of the Mustangs would be win 98 for Coach Erger, entering the match with a 97-30 overall record at SMU. A win Saturday would also mark three straight seasons with 25 or more wins under Erger.
• The NCAA Selection Show will air on Sunday, Nov. 30, at 5 p.m. CT on ESPN.
MUSTANGS HEADED TO THE PROS
• 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)
SMU Volleyball Draft Picks
Emma Clothier 23' - No. 25 pick
DOWN GO THE NOLES
• Malaya Jones' 23 kills lifted No. 8 SMU Volleyball to a 3-1 victory over Florida State (16-12, 10-9 ACC) with set scores of 25-19, 23-25, 25-22, 25-14.
• The win pushed the Mustangs to a 24-5 record, 16-3 in ACC action. SMU has won eight-straight contests, tied for the longest streak of the season, and has won 16 of its last 17 matches.
• Along with her 23 kills, Jones notched her sixth double-double of the season, adding 10 digs and a season-high six blocks. She hit .302 in the win and added two aces.
• Kennedi Rogers recorded a career-high 19 kills, hitting .381 against the Seminoles. Jadyn Livings got back into double-figures against Florida State with 16 kills, hitting .314, to go along with 11 digs for her fifth double-double of the season.
• Averi Carlson dished out 55 assists, the second most for the senior setter this season, while also collecting a double-double with 11 digs on Wednesday. Four Mustangs notched 10 or more digs, led by Jordyn Schilling, who dug 17 balls against the Seminoles.
• SMU has yet to lose to Florida State, holding a perfect 5-0 record against the Seminoles and a 15-2 advantage in sets won.
MILESTONE WATCH
• Jones has 452 kills this season, 10 kills away from breaking the program record for single-season kills in the rally scoring era. (461 – Katie Hagerty 2016)
• Casey Batenhorst is seven aces away from becoming the eighth Mustang to have 100 or more aces at SMU in their career.
ALL-TIME SINGLE-SEASON BLOCKS
1. Janelle Giordano, 188 2015
2. Courtney Manning, 184 2011
3. Courtney Manning, 162 2010
4. Janelle Giordano, 162 2016
5. Janelle Giordano 160 2014
7. Caroine Daly, 155 2011
ALL-TIME CAREER ACES
1. Melissa Godwin, 153 2015-18
2. Caroline Young, 132 2011-14
3. Kathryn Wilkerson, 115 2010-12
4. Leslie Olson, 106 2008-10
5. Jackie Erazmus, 104 2011-13
6. Beth Karasek, 103 2018-21
7. Erin Pryor, 100 2014-17
8. Rachel Giubilato, 95 2020-22
RALLY-SCORING SINGLE SEASON KILLS
1. Katie Hegarty, 461 2016
3. Dana Powell, 440 2009
4. Dana Powell, 416 2010
5. Lauren Mills, 404 2017
6. Caroline Young, 397 2012
RALLY-SCORING SINGLE SEASON ACES
2. Caroline Young, 51 2012
4. Caroline Young, 47 2014
5. Kendall Patterson, 38 2016
QUICK HITS
• Averi Carlson enters the matchup ranked second nationally in assists per set (11.17) and 7th in total assists (1,206), leading the ACC in both categories.
• Christa Wilburn leads the Mustangs with 45 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 second youngest player in DI Volleyball on record this season.
• The Mustangs entered the week fifth in the nation in hitting percentage, swinging at a .308 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 seven categories: Hitting Percentage (5th), Winning Percentage (20th), Blocks Per Set (23rd), Kills Per Set (23rd), Total Blocks (27th), Assists Per Set (29th) and Opponent Hitting Percentage (37th).
• Favor Anyanwu has been one of the most dominant forces at the net defensively this season, ranking 13th in the country in total blocks with 156. Her 156 blocks this season rank fifth in the modern scoring era at SMU and sixth all-time.
• Anyanwu is also hitting at a highly efficient clip in ACC matches, ranking fourth (.401) on the conference overall and third in league play (.414) in hitting percentage.
• Anyanwu (.401) 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 five players with 20 or more aces this season, including five with 13 or more in ACC matches. The Mustangs have 185 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.
SEASONED VETS
• 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 28
1. Eva Hudson, Kentucky 2,088
2. Mimi Colyer, Wisconsin 1,932
3. Flormarie Heredia Colon, Miami (FL.) 1,800
4. Victoria Barrett, Alabama 1,782
Active Career Assists (DI) – As of November 28
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
SERIES HISTORY
• SMU is 2-3 against NC State all-time. The clubs split their matchups last season.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
The NC State Wolfpack
• NC State is 15-14, 8-11 in ACC action.
• Last season, the Wolfpack went 16-13 overall, 11-9 in league play.
• The Wolfpack were swept by Florida 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
• 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.
SMU MUSTANG TO DALLAS PULSE
• Since the 2025 season started, four Mustangs have become affiliated with the new MLV team in Dallas, the Dallas Pulse.
• Besides to recent drafting of
Malaya Jones, 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 97-30 (.764) as head coach at SMU.
• Erger is 65-13 (83.3%) 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.
