No. 18 TCU welcomes unbeaten No. 8 SMU to Fort Worth for a rare ranked DFW showdown featuring two volleyball programs with serious postseason ambitions.
FORT WORTH - TCU volleyball and SMU haven’t played a meaningful match against each other since 2021.
Apparently, they decided to make the reunion count.
No. 18 TCU welcomes No. 8 SMU to Schollmaier Arena for a nationally ranked DFW showdown featuring two programs that aren’t interested in simply making the NCAA Tournament anymore. Both have legitimate aspirations of playing deep into December.
For TCU, this is another early measuring stick in a schedule loaded with them.
The Horned Frogs opened 2026 against No. 2 Texas before sweeping UNLV in Las Vegas. Four of TCU’s first five opponents are ranked inside the top 15, part of a brutal schedule that includes 17 teams that reached last season’s NCAA Tournament.
TCU has the firepower to survive it.
Evan Hendrix returns after becoming the seventh AVCA All-American in program history last season. She led the Big 12 with 4.96 kills per set during conference play and enters 2026 on the AVCA Player of the Year Watch List.
Jalyn Gibson is also back after an ACL injury ended her 2025 season almost immediately. Becca Kelley rounds out a trio of Horned Frogs named to the Preseason All-Big 12 Team after recording 359 kills while playing all 123 sets last season.
Then there’s SMU.
The Mustangs arrive 3-0 after beating defending national champion Texas A&M, Colorado State and UC Davis. That start follows a program-record 27-6 campaign and SMU’s first trip to the Sweet 16.
BYU transfer Suli Davis hasn’t wasted any time becoming a problem. She led SMU in kills in each of its first three matches, including 22 against Colorado State.
Favor Anyanwu is averaging 1.67 blocks per set, while setter Hannah Beauford is producing 9.42 assists per set.
So, yes, this has considerably more juice than the typical early-September nonconference match.
SMU owns a 15-7 advantage in the all-time series and has won six of 10 meetings in Fort Worth. TCU, however, has turned Schollmaier into a serious home-court advantage, going 27-3 there since the beginning of the 2024 season.
The Horned Frogs also won a program-record six matches against ranked opponents last year.
Now they get another shot. TCU-SMU is already one of college sports’ best regional rivalries.
Wednesday’s volleyball showdown gives it something new: national stakes.
