SMU Volleyball Rallies Past No. 2 Pitt Ahead Of Moody Rematch
Oct 11 | Volleyball
SMU volleyball delivered one of its biggest wins of the season Wednesday night, rallying past No. 2 Pittsburgh on the road to hand the Panthers their first loss of the year and snap their 58-match home winning streak.
The sixth-ranked Mustangs bounced back after dropping the first set to win the next three, including a 38-36 third-set marathon. SMU also snapped Pitt's streak of 40 straight home wins against ACC opponents.
"Every time we go into a match, no matter what the rankings are, I'm always going to choose SMU," junior middle blocker Favor Anyanwu said. "I'm always going to choose us to come out on top. I feel like we just did what we knew we were capable of, and we did a great job executing the game plan."
The victory marked SMU's fifth win over a ranked opponent this season, including its fourth against a top-10 team.Â
"We believe we can beat anyone if we just go out and play our game and put out our best product on the floor," junior middle blocker Natalia Newsome said. "It doesn't matter who's on the other side of the court."
That confidence is something the Mustangs have worked hard to build.Â
"You either need to have courage or confidence, or ideally both," SMU head coach Sam Erger said. "Courage is what you have hopefully all the time. But for sure, if you're lacking confidence, then you need courage. And confidence comes from having done it before, so now we can say, 'We're capable of this. We can beat this team.' You know that any kind of setback or if they go on a run, it's not insurmountable."
The Mustangs rely on the habits they've built in practice to navigate the toughest moments of a match, as they did in the 38-36 third set.
"We do drills that are high pressure, high stress pretty often," junior libero Victoria Harris said. "So, when you get to a certain point, which we call the red zone, it's just like, 'OK, how clean can you stay, or how much better volleyball can you play when you're tired? How much better volleyball can you play later on down the stretch, and can you string together two points and three points? And how mentally tough can you be?'"
SMU took time to appreciate the win before going right back to work. The Mustangs have their sights set on competing for the ACC championship and making a deep NCAA Tournament run.
"We're just trying to focus on where we are and keep our feet where they're at," Newsome said. "We don't want to get too hung up on the wins or the losses. That's something we practice a lot every day, and we do have a lot of confidence in ourselves."
SMU's confidence is backed by a growing list of wins against top competition. Earlier this season, the Mustangs beat No. 3 Kentucky, No. 8 and defending national champion Texas A&M, and No. 9 Texas.
In 2024, SMU swept then-No. 2 Nebraska and Pitt while ranked No. 1, with both wins coming at Moody. Last season, the Mustangs earned road wins at No. 4 Louisville and No. 5 Stanford.
"A lot of them, this is not their first rodeo with a big win," Erger said. "I think they understand we can do more and we want to do more."
SMU's challenging nonconference schedule was designed to prepare the team for the ACC. The Mustangs competed in the AVCA First Serve Classic and inaugural editions of Spikes Under the Lights and the Paradise Invitational in the Bahamas.
Seven of SMU's first 15 matches this season came against ranked opponents, with two additional matchups against ranked teams in exhibition matches at AT&T Stadium.
"We knew that our nonconference schedule was going to prepare us for what the ACC is," Anyanwu said. "I feel like the ACC is one of the toughest conferences in the game right now. … We knew that what we went against is only going to get tougher in the ACC."
Pittsburgh will have a chance to respond Sunday when it visits Moody Coliseum for the rematch.
"We know that what we have in mind is the ACC championship," Anyanwu said. "I feel like we can't go out and be satisfied with that win because they're going to come back fighting as hard as they did, especially after a loss. I don't feel like we're celebrating it too much because the job's not done."
As travel partners, SMU and the Panthers play twice in the same week.
Erger expects Pitt to do some things differently coming off Wednesday's loss.
"They're going to be the ones that make probably more adjustments than us, and so I think it almost makes it a little more challenging to go beat them," Erger said. "It's hard to beat a good team twice, and we don't know exactly what they're going to bring to the table on Sunday."
For the Mustangs, each challenge offers another opportunity to grow and prepare for what's next.
"I feel like every experience and every game and every opportunity is just a stepping stone to be able to prepare you for the next opportunity," Harris said. "And to show you who you are in the moment."
For Erger, the team's success is part of a longer process of developing players and building a cohesive culture.
"It's always a process," Erger said. "That's probably one of the things I love about coaching, developing culture. Getting the whole team kind of together, it's always a cool challenge, but very fun to piece those things together."
The Mustangs will look to carry that growth and confidence into Sunday's rematch in front of their home crowd.
"We know what we're capable of, and we know the personnel that we have with our team," Anyanwu said. "It doesn't matter what anybody thinks because they're not the ones playing. We are, so we have to just focus on what we need to do."
Erger hopes the home crowd will help SMU maintain its momentum.
"We need everyone's help on Sunday," Erger said. "It was truly like a great atmosphere at Pitt with the hostile crowd. So I'm hoping we can return the favor at Moody."
