Mustangs Host Abilene Christian Friday For Senior Day
Apr 9 | Women's Tennis
| #70 SMU (14-6) vs. Abilene Christian(7-5) | |
| Date & Start Time | Friday, April 10, at 3 p.m. CT |
| Location | SMU Tennis Complex |
| Live Scoring | smumustangs.com/wtennis |
| Match Notes | Notes (.pdf) |
| /SMUMustangs|/SMUTennisW | |
| @SMUMustangs|@SMUTennis | |
DALLAS -- The SMU women's tennis team concludes its regular season on Friday, hosting Abilene Christian at 3 p.m. at the SMU Tennis Complex. Friday's contest will also serve as Senior Day. Holly Verner, the lone senior on the roster, will be honored during the intermission between doubles and singles.
SMU (14-6), ranked 70th in the latest ITA rankings, suffered a 4-0 setback at 28th-ranked Houston on Wednesday. The loss gave the Mustangs' a conference record of 3-3 for the season.
SMU Tennis Complex:
5669 N Central Expressway | SMU | Dallas, TX 75205
Parking: Match-day parking for the SMU Tennis Complex is available on campus in the Binkley and Moody Parking Centers. SMU athletics ask that visitors not park in the residential areas surrounding the facility or in Park Cities Plaza.
SCOUTING ABILENE CHRISTIAN
Abilene Christian (7-5) has lost three straight matches heading into the weekend and will play Dallas Baptist on Friday morning before taking on the Mustangs. The Wildcats' last win came on March 27, when they defeated Southeastern Louisiana, 6-1. Nada Marjanovic and Kaysie Hermsdorf lead the team with nine singles wins, while Hermsdorf and Brittany Reed are 13-1 in doubles.
Series History: SMU is 7-0 all-time versus Abilene Christian. The Mustangs won the last meeting, 4-3, in Dallas in 2010.
SMU Notes
DISHKOVA, VERNER DOMNINATING DOUBLES
Junior Hristina Dishkova and senior Holly Verner's 24 doubles wins is a new school record. The previous record was 22, set by Nicole Briceno and Kseniia Tokarieva (2008-09) and Renee Greyvenstryn and Patricia Zerdan (1996-97). They entered the spring season as the sixth-ranked doubles pair in the Texas region, after reaching the semifinals of the ITA Texas Regional, narrowly missing a berth to the ITA Indoor Championships. They are 24-6 overall this year, including a 13-1 mark in dual match play. Their 45 career wins are third all-time at SMU.
Team Doubles Victories (Career)
1. Lesniak / Malyarchikova 2008-11 53
2. Greyvenstyn / Zerdan 1994-97 49
3. Dishkova / Verner 2012-present 45
Team Doubles Victories (Season)
1. Dishkova / Verner 2014-15 24
2t. Greyvenstyn / Zerdan 1996-97 22
2t. Briceno / Tokarieva 2008-09 22
20-WIN CLUB
In singles, Hristina Dishkova and Dasha Sharapova have both eclipsed the 20-win mark this season. Dishkova's record stands at 21-14, including a 11-5 mark in the No. 1 singles slot. Dishkova and Holly Verner are also 24-6 in doubles. Sharapova has the best singles record of any Mustang with a 22-9 mark. Sharapova, who was named all-conference last season, is 12-4 in No. 3 singles in dual matches.
WEEKLY AWARD WINNERS
Hristina Dishkova and Dasha Sharapova have both received The American Player of the Week honors this season. Sharapova earned the award on March 17 after helping the Mustangs earn two wins on their road trip to Hawaii. She went a combined 4-0 in singles and doubles versus Hawaii and Cal State Fullerton. A week later (March 24) Dishkova received the honor following a record-breaking performance in doubles. The duo went 3-0, setting a new school record with 23 single season doubles victories. She also defeated Emily Olivier in the Mustangs' 4-0 victory over New Mexico.
SMU VS. RANKED OPPONENTS
SMU has faced eight ranked opponents so far this season, posting a 4-4 record in those matches. The Mustangs have wins over No. 62 USF (5-2, Feb. 22), No. 64 Hawaii (6-1, March 11), No. 41 New Mexico (4-0, March 20) and No. 75 Kansas (4-3, March 28). Three of SMU's losses to ranked foes have come to highly-ranked Big 12 teams (Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, TCU). The Mustangs also lost to No. 28 Houston on Wednesday.
IN THE ITA RANKINGS
SMU appears in the national ITA rankings for the fourth time this season, coming in at No. 61 in the latest rankings (March 31). The ranking is a one-spot improvement over the last ranking (No. 62, March 24). The Mustangs reached their highest ranking on Feb. 24 (No. 47). Junior Vaszilisza Bulgakova is the only Mustang to have appeared in the ITA national singles rankings. Bulgakova reached a ranking of 108 last year. Regionally, Hristina Dishkova and Holly Verner are ranked sixth in doubles in the ITA Texas region.
FOREIGN CONNECTION
Four of the eight student-athletes on SMU's roster hail from foreign countries. Vaszilisza Bulgakova (Hungary), Hristina Dishkova (Germany), Yana Erkeeva (Russia) and Dasha Sharapova (Belarus) all represent different nationalities. In addition to the student-athletes, head coach Kati Gyulai is a native Hungarian and was raised in Transylvania, Romania.
UP NEXT - AAC CHAMPIONSHIP
The American Athletic Conference Championship will take place April 16-19 at the Case Tennis Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
