SMU women’s volleyball claims its share of the national spotlight

The GIST: If everyone loves a scrappy underdog, then the nation’s most beloved college volleyball team right now is the No. 12 SMU Mustangs, who shot from mid-major stalwart to tricky trap team to bona fide natty threat — all in their first season as a Power conference program. An Elphaba-level glow-up.

• The Mustangs first caught some buzz by sweeping No. 2 Nebraska on September 3rd. Since then, SMU added three more ranked wins, most notably beating No. 1 Pitt — a team that had previously dropped one set all season — in Saturday’s five-set thriller.

The stars: The Mustangs’ attack is run with stunning precision by setter Celia Cullen and powered by opposite Naya Shime, who leads the team with 202 kills (and counting!). SMU is ranked top-20 nationally in hitting percentage, meaning they’re really good at keeping their spikes inbounds

• On defense, middle blockers Nnedi Okammor and Natalie Foster host the ’Stangs’ block party nearly every match. Didn’t know brick walls played volleyball.

What’s next: SMU has another opportunity to prove themselves when they host fellow ACC newbie No. 5 Stanford tonight at 7 p.m. ET on ACCN. The elite Cardinal have just two season losses, both to Top-5 opponents. But considering the Mustangs are the only Division I squad to take down the nation’s top two teams, who’s to say the visiting Card aren’t the real underdogs here?