SETTING THE SCENE
• SMU looks to regroup in a Sunday match with Pitt after a hard-fought five set loss to the Panthers at Moody Coliseum on Wednesday night.
• SMU was the only team to beat Pitt in the regular season last year.
• The Mustangs look to collect their third ranked win of the season and second over a top 10 opponent.
• A win against Pitt on Sunday afternoon would be the 50th conference win for head Coach Sam Erger at SMU.  SMU enters the weekend 49-11 in conference games as Coach Erger is in year four at the helm.
• SMU is 2-3 against the four ranked opponents it has faced this season and 1-2 against those teams ranked in the top 10.
• Sunday's match will air on ESPN from Pittsburgh, marking just the second time that SMU Volleyball will be playing on ESPN. The first was last season against Louisville. Eric Frede (pxp), Emily Ehman (analyst) and Madison Fitzpatrick (sideline reporter) will be on the call Sunday afternoon. 
 
QUICK HITS
• Malaya Jones and Jadyn Livings are becoming one of the best pin-hitter duos in the country. Jones has led SMU in kills six times while Livings has led the way for five matches out of the 11 showings this season. Jones and Livings are both ranked top 10 in the ACC in kills per set and are the only ACC tandem to be ranked in the top 150 in the nation.  
• Despite the loss in the first matchup, Malaya Jones had an outstanding outing against the Panthers, leading the match with 23 kills while hitting .422 and recording seven digs. Jones now has reached double-digit kills in four straight outings. It was the eighth time this season she had 10 or more kills, and her fourth with 20 or more terminations.
• Freshman Maggie Croft has now had multiple aces in three straight games. Wednesdays showing was her fifth with multiple aces this season.
• Last season, the Mustangs were outstanding on the road, compiling a 12-2 record tied with Pitt for the most of any ACC team. SMU's .867 road winning percentage was tied for seventh best in the nation.
• Carlson needs one more ace to reach 100 for her career.
 
THREE FOR FIVE ON SETTER OF THE WEEK
• SMU senior setter Averi Carlson earned her third weekly honor from the Atlantic Coast Conference on Monday, as she was named the ACC Co-Setter of the Week on Sep. 22.
• Carlson averaged 11.72 assists per set, which led the ACC, as she pushed the Mustangs to wins over Stephen F. Austin and UTEP. The Lucas, Texas native dished out 37 assists with seven digs, three blocks, and two aces in the straight set victory over SFA, where SMU hit .383, its second-highest percentage of the season.
• In the Friday match against UTEP, Carlson had 45 assists and eight digs in the four-set victory to close out non-conference play.
• Carlson was also named ACC Setter of the Week on September 1 and 8.
 
SERIES HISTORY
• SMU is 1-2 against Pittsburgh, with its lone win coming last year in Dallas.
• The then-No. 15 SMU squad beat No. 1 Pitt in Moody Coliseum last season in five sets.
• Pitt won the last matchup on its home court with sets scores of 25-17, 25-18, 25-9. 
 
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
The Pittsburgh Panthers
• Pittsburgh is 9-2 on the season and has won nine straight after dropping the first two matches of the season to No. 1 Nebraska and then No. 16 Florida in the AVCA First Serve Showcase in Lincoln, Nebraska.
• The Panthers were picked to win the lead with 10 of the 18 first-place votes.
• They had four players on the All-ACC Preseason Team in Olivia Babcock, Blaire Bayless, Ryla Jones, and Bre Kelley.
• Pitt comes in at No. 5 in this week's AVCA Coaches Poll.

NEW SEASON, NEW FACES
• 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.
• 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 brought in six transfers and seven players out of high school to go along with four returners.
• Each of the six transfers Sam Erger and company brought in has NCAA Tournament experience.
 
AVCA RANKINGS: WEEK 4
• SMU Volleyball dropped to No. 11 in this week's American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Taraflex Coaches Poll despite going 2-0 on the week.
• 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 for the Mustangs in program history.
• SMU is the fourth highest-ranked ACC squad, trailing T-No. 3 Stanford, No. 5 Pittsburgh, and No. 6 Louisville. After the No. 11 Mustangs, Miami and North Carolina round out the top 25 at No. 24 and No. 25, respectively.  
• The Mustangs will face eight teams that opened the season ranked, including five in the preseason, before ACC play begins against preseason-ranked No. 3 Pitt on Wednesday, September 24, inside Moody Coliseum.
• 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 17 straight polls. 
 
JONES MAKING NATIONAL NOISE
• SMU Volleyball transfer opposite hitter Malaya Jones was named to the AVCA Preseason Division I National Player of the Year Watch List, presented by Nike Volleyball, on Friday, July 23.
• The 6-0 graduate from El Dorado Hills, Calif., is the first player in program history to earn a spot on the association's preseason list.
• The 2025 Preseason Watch List includes 30 players from 20 different schools. More players can be added to the mid-season list in October, followed by a list of semifinalists in November, the announcement of the finalists in mid-December, and the reveal of the Player of the Year in Kansas City, Mo., at the AVCA Awards Banquet on Friday, December 19.
• Jones is one of seven players in the ACC who earned a spot on the list. Last season, Celia Cullen and Naya Shime were added to the mid-season list. 
 
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 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 49-11 (81.6%) in conference matches on the Hilltop, winning 15+ in each of the three seasons.
• Erger has 10 ranked wins under her belt at SMU, three over top 10 teams.