Game 6 - Non Conference - Showdown at the Net: SEC/ACC Challenge
Aggies Record (5-0)
Opponent: SMU (5-0)
Date: September 9th - Tuesday
Time: 6:00pm
Location: Moody Coliseum - Dallas, Texas
Streaming: ESPN2
Stats: https://12thman.com/sidearmstats/wvball/summary
Two unbeaten teams, two top teams, only one leaves the Moody Coliseum undefeated. Your #8 undefeated Texas A&M Aggie Volleyball team heads up north to Dallas to take on the undefeated SMU Mustangs. A top ten matchup on a national stage, time to show everyone what Texas A&M Volleyball is all about.
SMU is a team who's new to the national stage. Prior to 2024, they rehabbed their entire lineup through the transfer portal and had an excellent regular season before falling in the second round of the NCAA tournament as a 2 seed. As the 2025 offseason began, they went back to the portal again. Most of their starting lineup is made up of transfers led by a familiar face in #1 Malaya Jones who we faced in the first round of the NCAA Tournament with Colorado State. jones is leading their team in kills with 3.62 per set and #42 Jadyn Livings is averaging 3.42 per set. That's as good of a pin tandem you will find in the nation. They're as just as strong in the middle with #21 Favor Anyanwu who averages one of the nation's best 1.62 blocks per set. At setter they have former tu setter #9 Averi Carlson who is also one of the best and provides a great block as well. Their libero is #14 Jordyn Schilling who is 5'11. All transferred in this year. It's a matchup of development vs paid for.
SMU beat Baylor and LSU in 5 sets, before hosting a home tournament where they beat Washington and Stony Brook in 4 sets, along with a sweep of Northern Iowa. SMU is a team that likes to serve tough, however they are prone to service errors (a breath of fresh air lol). They have 57 on the season in 2 more sets of play than us and only 2 more service aces. #4 Christa Wilburn an outside hitter for them has 10 aces and Carlson has 5. Waak has 8 for us, while Stowers, Perkins, and Lednicky have 3. I think the service line will be a huge factor in the game.
Our block will need to show up and slow down their hitters. Like us, they have a middle who can really swing as well. We'll need to serve tough and aside form collecting aces, we'll need to keep them out of system. If we can smoothly handle their serve, we can out hit them with our power and versatility. They have a strong block, but they'll have to pick their poison because we can score from anywhere. However, in order to do that, we need some good passing. I really think we see a career day for Logan here. Just like against Minnesota, and against many good teams this season and the past 3 years, we'll always have her to lean on. If their block is focused on Lednicky, we still have our middles and our outsides Stowers and Hellmuth. It's imperative we set our middles early to open up the entire court for us. We often sees go to the middles early set 1, then ignore them. Waak has to be in her bag and ready to distribute to what they give us.
This will be a back and forth affair. Each set will be a battle and I like our chances. It's a brand new team vs an experienced team, it's a team who cares more about winning than development, it's transfers vs a group who's been together for awhile. There's a lot on the line. Only one team leaves the Coliseum undefeated. I believe it will be the Aggies. BTHO smu.
SMU Stats: https://smumustangs.com/sports/womens-volleyball/stats
SMU Roster: https://smumustangs.com/sports/womens-volleyball/roster
Texas A&M Stats: https://12thman.com/sports/womens-volleyball/stats/2025
TexasA&M Roster: https://12thman.com/sports/womens-volleyball/roster
Aggies Record (5-0)
Opponent: SMU (5-0)
Date: September 9th - Tuesday
Time: 6:00pm
Location: Moody Coliseum - Dallas, Texas
Streaming: ESPN2
Stats: https://12thman.com/sidearmstats/wvball/summary
Two unbeaten teams, two top teams, only one leaves the Moody Coliseum undefeated. Your #8 undefeated Texas A&M Aggie Volleyball team heads up north to Dallas to take on the undefeated SMU Mustangs. A top ten matchup on a national stage, time to show everyone what Texas A&M Volleyball is all about.
SMU is a team who's new to the national stage. Prior to 2024, they rehabbed their entire lineup through the transfer portal and had an excellent regular season before falling in the second round of the NCAA tournament as a 2 seed. As the 2025 offseason began, they went back to the portal again. Most of their starting lineup is made up of transfers led by a familiar face in #1 Malaya Jones who we faced in the first round of the NCAA Tournament with Colorado State. jones is leading their team in kills with 3.62 per set and #42 Jadyn Livings is averaging 3.42 per set. That's as good of a pin tandem you will find in the nation. They're as just as strong in the middle with #21 Favor Anyanwu who averages one of the nation's best 1.62 blocks per set. At setter they have former tu setter #9 Averi Carlson who is also one of the best and provides a great block as well. Their libero is #14 Jordyn Schilling who is 5'11. All transferred in this year. It's a matchup of development vs paid for.
SMU beat Baylor and LSU in 5 sets, before hosting a home tournament where they beat Washington and Stony Brook in 4 sets, along with a sweep of Northern Iowa. SMU is a team that likes to serve tough, however they are prone to service errors (a breath of fresh air lol). They have 57 on the season in 2 more sets of play than us and only 2 more service aces. #4 Christa Wilburn an outside hitter for them has 10 aces and Carlson has 5. Waak has 8 for us, while Stowers, Perkins, and Lednicky have 3. I think the service line will be a huge factor in the game.
Our block will need to show up and slow down their hitters. Like us, they have a middle who can really swing as well. We'll need to serve tough and aside form collecting aces, we'll need to keep them out of system. If we can smoothly handle their serve, we can out hit them with our power and versatility. They have a strong block, but they'll have to pick their poison because we can score from anywhere. However, in order to do that, we need some good passing. I really think we see a career day for Logan here. Just like against Minnesota, and against many good teams this season and the past 3 years, we'll always have her to lean on. If their block is focused on Lednicky, we still have our middles and our outsides Stowers and Hellmuth. It's imperative we set our middles early to open up the entire court for us. We often sees go to the middles early set 1, then ignore them. Waak has to be in her bag and ready to distribute to what they give us.
This will be a back and forth affair. Each set will be a battle and I like our chances. It's a brand new team vs an experienced team, it's a team who cares more about winning than development, it's transfers vs a group who's been together for awhile. There's a lot on the line. Only one team leaves the Coliseum undefeated. I believe it will be the Aggies. BTHO smu.
SMU Stats: https://smumustangs.com/sports/womens-volleyball/stats
SMU Roster: https://smumustangs.com/sports/womens-volleyball/roster
Texas A&M Stats: https://12thman.com/sports/womens-volleyball/stats/2025
TexasA&M Roster: https://12thman.com/sports/womens-volleyball/roster
