No. 8 Mustangs Set For Road Matches Against No. 18 TCU and San Diego

#8 SMU (3-0, 0-0 ACC) at #18 TCU (1-1, 0-0 BIG 12)
Wednesday, Sept. 2 • 6:30 p.m. CT
Schollmaier Arena • Fort Worth, Texas
ESPN+ • Match Notes • Live Stats • SMU Mobile App

#8 SMU (3-0, 0-0 ACC) at [rv] San Diego (2-1, 0-0 WCC)
Friday, Sept. 4 • 9 p.m. CT
Jenny Craig Pavilion • San Diego, Calif.
ESPN+ • Match Notes • Live Stats • SMU Mobile App

DFW SHOWDOWN
• Wednesday night in Fort Worth, SMU will battle TCU for the first time in the fall season since 2021.
• The match will air on ESPN+ at Schollmaier Arena with first serve set for 6:30 pm.
• Wednesday's match will be the first matchup in the series where both teams are ranked. SMU is ranked No. 8 in the latest rankings while TCU is slated as the No. 18 team after week one.
• It will be the 23rd all-time meeting between the two programs, with SMU holding a 15-7 lead in the series. The Mustangs are 6-4 at TCU in the DFW rivalry, and SMU has won three of the last five meetings.

FOURTH MEETING WITH THE TOREROS
• SMU will continue its long stretch of matches on the road to start the season with a trip to San Diego to take on the Toreros on Friday night.
• In just three meetings with San Diego, the Mustangs are 2-1. SMU last battled San Diego in Hawaii back on Aug. 31, 2024, where they defeated the Toreros in four sets.
•The Toreros come into the week receiving votes in the AVCA-Taraflex Division I WVB Poll.

HIGHEST RANKED TEAM IN TEXAS
• The Mustangs enter week two as the No. 8 team in the country and the highest-ranked team in Texas.
• The other teams ranked behind them are: No. 9 Texas, No. 12 Texas A&M, No. 18 TCU, and [rv] Rice.
• After already playing and beating Texas A&M, the Mustangs will face all other Texas programs mentioned in the AVCA Poll, starting with the Texas Longhorns on Sept. 9 for their home openers.
• SMU is the fourth-highest ranked team in the ACC, trailing No. 2 Pitt, No. 4 Stanford and No. 6 Louisville.

UNBEATEN TRIP TO COLORADO
• The Mustangs improved to 3-0 after two tough matches in Fort Collins against the host school, Colorado State, and UC Davis.
• SMU defeated Colorado State, a team picked to win their conference, 3-1, led by outside hitter Suli Davis, who logged 22 kills and 14 digs on a .314 hitting percentage.
• Three Mustangs reached double-figures in the five-set thrilling victory over UC Davis. Natalia Newsome shined for the Mustangs with 11 kills out of the middle position on a .643 hitting efficiency.

THE LAST MEETINGS
• The last time SMU and TCU faced off was in 2021, when SMU won in five sets at Schollmaier Arena.
• Four Mustangs reached double figures in the win, led by Rachel Woulfe, who had 15 kills in the victory. As a freshman, Jamison Wheeler, an SMU standout during the Erger era, logged 10 kills in the match.
• SMU took care of San Diego in four sets in their last meeting, in a match that was a part of the 2024 Hawaiian Airlines Wahine Volleyball Classic.
• The Mustangs, in what was year three under Coach Erger and the first year in the ACC, hit .313 against the Toreros while holding them to a .183 hitting percentage, including a -0.111 clip in the fourth and final set.
• Jamison Wheeler led SMU that day with 17 kills.

ERGER AND WILLIAMS AT BAYLOR
• Head coach of the Mustangs, Sam Erger, and head coach of the Horned Frogs, Jason Williams, have a long history together as they were on staff at Baylor from 2015-21.
• Together under head coach Ryan McGuyre, they helped lead Baylor to a National Semifinal appearance and Big 12 Championship in 2019. That 2019 team earned a No. 1 AVCA national ranking and a No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament
• They helped lead Baylor to three consecutive NCAA Regional Semifinals, six straight NCAA Tournament appearances and 20+ win seasons.

WHAT A NIGHT IN AT&T STADIUM
• After Spikes Under the Lights, the Mustangs will travel to Fort Collins to battle Colorado State and UC Davis over the weekend.
• The Mustangs look to continue regular season momentum after taking down No. 8 Texas A&M at the Jeep AVCA First Serve in their season opener.
• It will be the fourth trip for SMU Volleyball to Fort Collins, the first since 1999. It will be the sixth matchup between SMU and Colorado State (5-0) and the second meeting between UC Davis and SMU. The first was back in 2010, when the Aggies won a four-setter in Dallas.

SCHEDULING TOUGH IN THE NON-CONFERENCE
• Coach Erger and staff never shies 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.

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Players Mentioned

Averi Carlson

Suli Davis

Malaya Jones

Natalia Newsome

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