No. 5 SMU (14-8, 3-4 American) vs. No. 12 Temple (10-7, 2-1 American)
Date & Start Time	Wednesday, April 18, at 12 p.m.
Championship Central	AAC Championship Central
Bracket	AAC Championship Women's Bracket
Location	SMU Tennis Complex & Crum Tennis Courts
Live Scoring	Live Scoring
Match Notes	Match Notes
Facebook	/SMUMustangs | /SMUTennisW
Twitter	@SMUMustangs | @SMUTennis

DALLAS (SMU) - SMU Women's Tennis will compete as the No. 5 seed in the American Athletic Conference Championship this week at the SMU Tennis Complex, the conference announced Monday. The Mustangs will take on No. 12 seed Temple (10-7, 2-1 American) in the first round on Wednesday, April 18, at 12 p.m. at Turpin Stadium.
 
SMU (14-8, 3-4 American) enters the tournament on a six-match win streak that includes defeats of conference rivals Tulane, East Carolina and Houston. The team is led by junior Ana Perez-Lopez, who is 14-6 with wins in her last five decisions. Karina Traxler follows with a 13-5 record and conference player of the week honors for the week of April 10.
 
The Mustangs look to earn their first AAC title after advancing to the semifinal round the last three years. Last year, SMU earned a 4-1 win over East Carolina in the quarterfinal but fell, 4-2, to eventual champions USF in the semifinal round. This year, the Mustangs' path to a title includes three ITA/Oracle nationally-ranked teams: No. 19 UCF, No. 29 Tulsa and No. 43 Wichita State.
 
PLAYING HOST
SMU will host the conference championship for the first time in program history. The tournament will run simultaneously with the men's championship at the SMU Tennis Complex and the Crum Tennis Courts. Matches will be played on the six outdoor courts at both locations with indoor courts used only in case of weather.
 
Parking for fans and visitors is available at the Binkley Parking Center and the Meadows Parking Center on campus and the Mockingbird Station garage. Live scoring will be available for each match through the American Athletic Conference Championship Central site. The championship match on April 21 will be streamed on American Digital Network.
 
SCOUTING TEMPLE
Temple enters the tournament with a 10-7 record and a 2-1 finish in conference play. Like SMU, Temple found stride toward the end of the regular slate, picking up wins in the final four matches. The Owls ended the season with 7-0 sweeps against both Binghamton and Fairleigh Dickinson at home. Last season, Temple entered the tournament as the No. 10 seed and fell, 4-0, to eventual champion USF in the first round.
 
SERIES HISTORY
The Mustangs hold wins in both matches they've played against Temple dating back to 2003. In the last meeting, SMU swept the Owls 7-0 at the SMU Tennis Complex.
 
Temple (2-0)
Home: 1-0, Away: 0-0, Neutral: 1-0
3/16/03..............N.............W...............4-0
3/6/14................H.............W...............7-0
 
MUSTANGS IN AAC CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY
2017 (Orlando, Fla.)
vs. East Carolina                   W, 4-1                    Quarterfinal
vs. USF                                   L, 2-4                      Semifinal
 
2016 (Memphis, Tenn.)
vs. Memphis                         W, 4-3                    Quarterfinal
vs. No. 56 USF                       L, 0-4                     Semifinal
 
2015 (Tulsa, Okla.)
vs. Memphis                         W, 4-3                    Quarterfinal
vs. No. 29 Houston              L, 1-4                      Semifinal
 
2014 (Tampa, Fla.)
vs. No. 41 USF                       L, 0-4                     Quarterfinal
 
TRAXLER WINS AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONORS (APRIL 10)
Junior Karina Traxler was named the American Athletic Conference Women's Tennis Player of the Week on April 10. The award comes after Traxler helped the Mustangs earn wins against UT Arlington and Houston. The Rockwall, Texas native went 2-0 at No. 1 in the two matches, including a straight set victory over No. 103 Tsveta Dimitrova of Houston. She also earned a doubles win at the top position against UT Arlington with partner Sarai Monarrez Yesaki for the duo's tenth win. With the victories, she improved to a team-best 12-5 in dual match season and 19-7 in the overall in her first season on the Hilltop. She finished the regular season on a five-match win streak with 13 victories.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Perfect 6-0, 6-0 straight set wins from Ana Perez-Lopez and Anzhelika Shapovalova propelled the Mustangs to a 4-0 sweep of Louisiana-Monroe on Saturday at the SMU Tennis Complex.

SMU extends its win streak to six matches with victories in eight of its last nine dual contests. The Mustangs will carry the streak into the American Athletic Conference Championship next week at the SMU Tennis Complex and Crum Tennis Courts.

The Mustangs dominated doubles play, picking up the doubles point for the 13^th time this season. Perez-Lopez and Nicole Petchey delivered a 6-1 rout at No. 3 to give SMU the advantage. Shapovalova and Tiffany Hollebeckearned their 10^th win of dual match season with a 6-3 win at No. 2 to clinch the point for the Mustangs.

In the three finished singles matches, the Mustangs surrendered just one game to the Warhawks.

Shapovalova also notched her 10th singles win of the season with her straight set victory over ULM's Teodora Radu. Sarai Monarrez Yesaki delivered a 6-0, 6-1 victory at No. 5, and Perez-Lopez would seal the match with her 6-0, 6-0 decision at No. 4. Perez-Lopez leads the Mustangs with a 14-6 record and five wins from the No. 4 position.
 
FOLLOW THE MUSTANGS
Keep up with all the latest news and information on the Mustangs by following SMU Women's Tennis on Twitter at @SMUTennis, Instagram at @SMUWomensTennis and on Facebook at Facebook.com/SMUTennisW. Follow SMU Athletics on Twitter at @SMUMustangs or Instagram at SMU.Mustangs.
 
CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE

First Round | Wednesday, April 18
Match 1: No. 11 UConn (10-10) vs. No. 6 Houston (19-3)	9 a.m.
Match 2: No. 10 Cincinnati (11-9) vs. No. 7 Memphis (15-7)	9 a.m.
Match 3: No. 9 Tulane (12-10) vs. No. 8 ECU (17-8)	Noon
Match 4: No. 12 Temple (10-7) vs. No. 5 SMU (12-8)	Noon
Quarterfinals | Thursday, April 19
Match 5: Tulane/ECU winner vs. No. 1 UCF (18-3)	Noon
Match 6: Temple/SMU winner vs. No. 4 USF (11-10)	Noon
Match 7: UConn/Houston winner vs. No. 3 Wichita State (16-7)	3 p.m.
Match 8: Cincinnati/Memphis winner vs. No. 2 Tulsa (18-5)	3 p.m.
Semifinals | Friday, April 20
Match 9: Match 5 winner vs. Match 6 winner	3 p.m.
Match 10: Match 7 winner vs. Match 8 winner	3 p.m.
Final | Saturday, April 21 | American Digital Network
Match 11: Semifinal winners	3 p.m.