#11 SMU (1-0, 0-0 ACC) vs. #10 Penn State (0-0, 0-0 BIG TEN)
Thursday, Aug. 27 • Approx. 8 p.m. CT
AT&T Stadium • Arlington, Texas
TNT (HBO Max) • Match Notes • SMU Mobile App
#1 Nebraska and #17 Florida will play at 7 p.m. CT in the first match of the event*
Winner of each match will play in the event final at approx. 9 p.m. CT
WE'RE PLAYING AT AT&T STADIUM: SPIKES UNDER THE LIGHTS
• The SMU volleyball team will play in the inaugural Spikes Under the Lights women's college volleyball exhibition showcase, debuting on Thursday, August 27, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The showcase will air on TNT and be streamed on HBO Max.
• The event will feature four of the nation's top programs, Nebraska, Penn State, SMU and Florida, for a $1 million prize pool. It will feature a single-night, high-intensity competition format with two semifinal matchups followed by a championship final; all played in a best-of-three set structure.
• Nebraska will battle Florida, followed by a meeting between SMU and Penn State in the second semifinal match.
• Spikes Under the Lights will mark a historic milestone as the first women's college sporting event to be staged at AT&T Stadium, and one of the first women's sporting events of any kind to take place in an NFL venue.
NEW FACES SHINE IN SWEEP OF NO. 8 TEXAS A&M
• Redshirt Freshman Setter and first-time starter Hannah Beauford shined for the Mustangs in a 3-0 victory over the defending national champion and No 8 Texas A&M Aggies on Sunday at the Jeep AVCA First Serve in Milwaukee.
• Beauford was named MVP of the event because of her performances that included 33 assists, five digs, three kills and two blocks. She paced SMU to a .301 hitting percentage in the win.
• The Mustangs improved to 3-0 against the Aggies in the all-time series, with the other victories coming in 2016 (NCAA Tournament) and in 2025.
• The win marked the 14th ranked win under head coach Sam Erger at SMU and sixth against a top 10 opponent in the last three seasons.
• Several other new faces made their mark in match one as Mustangs. Outside Hitter Suli Davis led the match with 15 kills, while Victoria Harris captained the Mustangs' defense with 13 digs on the night. Senior Pin Hitter Gabi Placide added nine kills, while hitting .389, with four blocks. True Freshman, Elle Vandeweghe got the start in her first college match and registered two aces.
STARTING THE SEASON NO. 11 IN THE COUNTRY
• SMU Volleyball opens the fifth season under Head Coach Sam Erger, ranked No. 11 in the AVCA-Taraflex Division I Preseason Poll, the association announced on Monday, Aug. 10.
• It marks the second straight season that the Mustangs are ranked entering the year.
• Nine opponents on SMU's schedule are ranked in the AVCA Preseason Poll, five of which sit in the top 10. The nine opponents in the poll include: No. 2 Texas, No. 3 Kentucky, No. 4 Pittsburgh, No. 5 Stanford, No. 7 Louisville, No. 8 Texas A&M, No. 9 Purdue*, No. 18 TCU and No. 19 North Carolina.
• The Mustangs also will face No. 10 Penn State and potentially No. 1 Nebraska or No. 17 Florida in the Spikes Under the Lights exhibition showcase at AT&T Stadium on Aug. 27.
• Five other teams on the schedule are receiving votes: Miami (Fla.), Georgia Tech, Rice, San Diego and Florida State.
• The Mustangs are one of five ACC programs on the list, with three of the five in the top 10.
• The Mustangs have been ranked in 29 consecutive polls released by the AVCA.
• This season marks the third year that the Mustangs have been featured in the top-25.
PRESEASON ALL-ACC STANGS
• Favor Anyanwu and Suli Davis were also both recognized on the 2026 Preseason All-ACC Team, voted on by the league's coaches.
• Anyanwu earned her second consecutive preseason All-ACC recognition, while Davis, transferring in from BYU, collected the first conference preseason honor of her career.
• Both athletes earned all-conference honors after last season, Anyanwu, a second teamer for the Mustangs in the ACC and Davis, a Big 12 First Team member and Big 12 Freshman of the Year winner.
ACC PRESEASON COACHES POLL
• The Mustangs were picked fourth in the ACC Preseason poll. Stanford was slotted No. 1, receiving 10 first-place votes, with Pittsburgh ranked No. 2, receiving seven first-place votes, and Louisville right in front of SMU at No. 3 with one first-place vote.
• The Mustangs finished third in the ACC a season ago, behind Co-Champions Pittsburgh and Stanford.
THE LAST MEETINGS*
• In the regular season, SMU battled two of the three teams in the field for Spikes Under the Lights.
• SMU swept then No. 2 Nebraska in 2024 at Moody Coliseum in their last meeting.
• Just last season, SMU swept Florida in the second round of the NCAA Tournament to advance to its first-ever Round of 16 appearance.
• This will be the first match of any kind between SMU and Penn State in Volleyball
• DISCLAIMER: These matches are exhibitions and don't count towards the regular season records for each of the four teams. It will be the first time that Volleyball fans get to see Nebraska, Penn State, and Florida before their regular-season schedules start over the weekend.
NEW FACES ON THE HILLTOP
• The Mustangs have eight new faces on the 2026 roster, four transfers and four true freshmen.
• SMU needed to replace nine athletes from the 2025 roster, three of whom are playing professionally in the United States and overseas. Eight of the nine played in 19 or more matches last season and four of them appeared in or started in all 33.
• All four transfers came from Power 4 programs, highlighted by transfer Suli Davis, who was an AVCA Second Team All-American as a freshman at BYU.
• Davis averaged 4.97 points/set, hitting .267 at BYU. She recorded five matches with 27 or more points, the second most among returning Power Four outside hitters in the country.
• Victoria Harris and Gabi Placide both joined the Mustangs from SEC programs. Harris has been one of the best liberos in the conference for the past two seasons for South Carolina, while Placide led Ole Miss as one of the top-point scorers in the SEC last season.
• Sam Erger and company brought in four true freshmen, two from the state of Texas, one from California and the final from Trebinje, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
RETURNING EXPERIENCE
• SMU returns eight players from its 2025 roster that reached the NCAA Regional Semifinal for the first time in program history.
• Of the eight returners, four were consistent starters throughout the season.
• The group is highlighted by two AVCA Honorable Mention All-Americans in Favor Anyanwu and Jadyn Livings.
• Another returning starter is high-flying middle blocker and efficient attacker Natalia Newsome, who broke the single-season program record for hitting percentage, terminating at a .456 clip last season.
• The fourth player on the list is rising sophomore Christa Wilburn, who burst onto the scene in the first match of the 2025 season when she broke the rally-scoring single-match ace record against LSU in Baton Rouge. Wilburn was a steady back-row presence in year one as a Mustang, a campaign where she enrolled early to join the team right before preseason camp. Wilburn led the team in aces with 47, an SMU freshman record.
STANGS ON THE BIG SCREEN
• The 2026 SMU volleyball regular season schedule will feature 10 nationally televised broadcasts, with matches airing on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ACC Network and TNT.
• SMU will open the season on ESPN2 against Texas A&M on August 23 for the AVCA First Serve in Milwaukee, Wis. Following the season opener, the Spikes Under the Lights exhibition showcase at AT&T Stadium will air on TNT on August 27.
• The Mustangs' second match of the Paradise Invitational, another first-of-its-kind event SMU will compete in, will also be televised on either ESPN or ESPN2.
• Both matches against Pittsburgh will air on national television, the second (Oct. 11) being on ESPN. The Mustangs will later be featured on ESPNU when they host Louisville on November 12.
• This year's ACC Network appearances include Texas (Sept. 9), Stanford (Sept. 25), California (Sept. 27), Pittsburgh (Oct. 7) and Georgia Tech (Oct. 25).
• All additional conference matches will be streamed on ACCNX. Additional television designations may be added and announced at a later date.
SCHEDULING TOUGH IN THE NON-CONFERENCE
• Coach Erger and staff never shy away from scheduling tough opponents in the non-conference.
• The Mustangs have the third-strongest non-conference schedule in the country based on average winning percentage from the 2025 season.
• SMU's non-conference opponents had a combined .766 winning percentage last season, trailing only Texas (.795) and Louisville (.785).
• The Mustangs can potentially face eight teams that reached the Sweet Sixteen or higher last December.
2025 REWIND: SWEET SIXTEEN STANGS
• The 2025 season was the best year yet for the SMU Volleyball program, highlighted by the first-ever Sweet Sixteen appearance.
• In 2025, the Mustangs won 27 matches, tied for the most in program history. They also won 15 matches inside Moody Coliseum, also tied for the most in school history.
• Head Coach Sam Erger won her 100th career match at SMU in the historic win over Florida to send her squad to the Sweet Sixteen.
• The Mustangs reached as high as No. 7 in the AVCA rankings and also knocked off five ranked teams, two of which were top-5 opponents on the road. (Louisville & Stanford)
• The program saw its first AVCA First and Second Team All-Americans in Malaya Jones and Averi Carlson last season. Both went on to be picked in the first and second rounds of the 2025 MLV draft.
