No. 6 SMU Stuns No. 2 Pitt, Ends Nation’s Longest Home Winning Streak

Wednesday, October 7

Pittsburgh, PA

6pm CT

SMU

13-2,5-0ACC

Pittsburgh

14-1,4-1ACC

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
SMU	21	25	38	25	3
Pittsburgh	25	19	36	22	1

natalia newsome & hannah beauford at Pitt 10/7/26

Oct 7 | Volleyball

Box Score

PITTSBURGH (SMU) - The No. 6 SMU volleyball team (13-2, 5-0 ACC) downed No. 2 Pittsburgh (14-1, 4-1 ACC), handing the Panthers their first loss of the season in a four-set win (21-25, 25-19, 38-36, 25-22) Wednesday night.

The win snaps the Panthers' nation-leading 58-match home winning streak and extends the Mustangs' ACC winning streak to 14, the league's longest active streak.

Five Mustangs went for double-digit kills on the night, led by middle blocker Natalia Newsome, who logged a career-high 17 kills on a .519 hitting percentage. Sophomore outside hitter Suli Davis reached double-digit kills for the 14th time this season, logging 17 kills, nine digs, and four blocks.

Outside hitter Jadyn Livings was crucial for the Mustangs, logging a season-best 13 kills on a .435 clip against the Panthers. Gabi Placide and Favor Anyanwu rounded out the double-digit kill performers, each registering 10 in the match.

Victoria Harris put up her second 20-dig match of the season against the Panthers, finishing with exactly 20 in the four-setter. She was also a force at the service line for the Mustangs, ending the match with four aces, tying her career-high she set earlier in the year.

Along with her 10 kills, Anyanwu led the defense at the net with nine blocks. As a team, SMU outblocked Pittsburgh 12.5 to 6, its third straight match with 12 or more blocks.

Redshirt freshman setter Hannah Beauford paced the Mustangs to a .347 hitting percentage, dishing out a career-high 54 assists with four digs and four blocks. Defensively, the Mustangs out-dug the Panthers 61-48.

MATCH NOTES:

The Mustangs handed Pitt its first set loss since Sept. 6. The Panthers had won their previous 28 sets until the Mustangs' second-set win.
The Panthers had won 23-straight matches in the Petersen Events Center entering the match.
The Mustangs have won seven straight matches, the longest streak of the season and the longest streak to start ACC play since joining the league in 2024.
The win marked SMU's sixth win over a top-5 and ninth over a top-10 opponent under Erger. This season alone, the Mustangs have taken down the No. 2, No. 3, No. 8 and No. 9 teams in the country.
The Mustangs improved to 5-1 in true road matches this season.
Under Coach Erger, SMU is 47-13 in true away matches and 20-3 in ACC road contests.
The Mustangs have road wins over 17 of the 18 ACC programs in just over two seasons of league competition.
Wednesday's win for SMU marks the program's second victory over the Panthers and its first in Pittsburgh.
SMU hit over .300 for the sixth straight match and improved to 55-0 under Coach Erger when reaching that threshold.
Anyanwu logged 8+ blocks for the 14th time (six this season) as a Mustang, moving her to third all-time at SMU in the category. She's got 26 matches at SMU with five or more blocks.
The SMU middles combined for 27 kills on 47 swings, hitting a combined .447 for the night.
Harris' 20-dig performance against the Panthers was the 13th time she has done so in her career.
Harris is now nine digs away from 1,000 career digs.

SMU LEADERS:
SMU Kills Leaders: Suli Davis/Natalia Newsome (17)
SMU Assists Leader: Hannah Beauford (54)
SMU Digs Leader: Victoria Harris (20)
SMU Blocks Leader: Favor Anyanwu (9)
SMU Ace Leader: Victoria Harris (2)
SMU Points Leader: Suli Davis (2)

NEXT UP:
No. 6 SMU will host the No. 2 Panthers at Moody Coliseum on Sunday for the second of the annual home-and-home. The match will air on ESPN starting at 2 p.m. CT.