SMU at No. 15 Duke
Saturday, Jan. 13 | 12 p.m. (CT)
Ambler Tennis Stadium – Durham, NC
SMU at No. 9 NC State
Monday, Jan. 15 | 1 p.m. (CT)
J.W. Isenhour Tennis Center – Raleigh, NC
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SETTING THE SCENE
SMU opens the season on the road against Duke on Saturday, Jan. 13 at the Ambler Tennis Stadium in Durham, North Carolina. SMU will be on the road again on Monday, Jan. 15 to take on No. 9 NC State.
The Mustangs won the American Athletic Conference Championship and earned an NCAA Tournament berth in 2023.
Six Mustangs - Hadley Doyle, Taylor Johnson, Maja Makoric, Lana Mavor, Drew Morris and Reka Patel - return from last season's roster.
SMU went 16-9 overall and 10-1 at home during 2023.
SMU enters its fifth season under the AAC's reigning Coach of the Year, Jeff Nevolo.
SERIES HISTORY
Jan. 13, 2023 will be the second time SMU and Duke have faced off.
The Mustangs and Blue Devils haven't met since the Mustangs lost to Duke in 2008 - 7-0.
This will be the first meeting in history between SMU and NC State
KNOW THE FOES
Duke is currently ranked No. 15 in the ITA poll.
The Blue Devils finished 23-5 overall in 2023, including an 11-2 finish in conference play.
Duke is coached by Jamie Ashworth, who has coached the Blue Devils since 1997.
NC State is currently ranked No. 9 in the ITA poll.
The Wolfpack finished 28-5 overall in 2023, including a 10-3 finish in conference play.
NC State is coached by Simon Earnshaw, who has coached the Wolfpack since 2014.
SUCCESS UNDER NEVOLO
Jeff Nevolo - 61-33 (.649) is coming off of leading the Mustangs to their first AAC Championship, defeating UCF 4-0 in the finals.
The Mustangs were the first team in conference history to win all three tournament matches, 4-0.
Nevolo was named the AAC Coach of the Year and mentored four Mustangs to All-Conference honors.
FALLING INTO THE SPRING
SMU competed in six fall events, posting a total of 60 wins across singles and doubles play.
The Mustangs capped off the fall season by traveling to the Texas A&M Invitational to compete against some of the top ranked players in the country.
HAD ENOUGH YET?
Graduate student Hadley Doyle is the
AAC's reigning Player of the Year.
Prior to fall play this year, Doyle was listed on the ITA Division I Top 125 Preseason National Singles rankings, coming in at No. 63.
She is a three-time All-AAC selection and was selected as the AAC Player of the Week three times in 2023.
During her senior season, Doyle earned a team best 28-8 overall record.
Doyle went undefeated in the 2023 AAC Championship, finishing 2-0 in singles and 3-0 in doubles.
LOOK WHAT YOU MADE ME DO
During SMU's most recent fall slate, graduate student Taylor Johnson defeated then-No. 39 Ozlem Uslu of Virginia Tech.
For the 2022-23 year - her debut season as a Mustang - Johnson posted a 23-8 overall singles record and a 13-4 dual match recorded.
She ended last season on a 10-match win streak including a straight set victory in the NCAA first round match up against Baylor.
Johnson was an ITA Indoors All-Tournament selection (doubles No. 3 - 2021)
2022-23 RECAP
The Mustangs won their first AAC Championship in 2023 and competed in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
SMU earned a 16-9 overall record and defeated each of their conference opponents.
The Mustangs recorded 11 total sweeps and seven ranked wins. SMU finished No. 32 in the final ITA poll.
In recognition of their success, Jeff Nevolo was named the AAC Coach of the Year and Hadley Doyle was named the AAC Player of the Year, as well as Doyle, Taylor Johnson and Drew Morris who were awarded four combined All-Conference honors.
WANT SOME MORR-IS?
Drew Morris will be entering her junior season for the Mustangs.
She is coming off of a 2023 in which she was placed on the AAC All-Conference Team and was a two-time AAC Player of the Week.
In her sophomore season Morris earned a team high 15 dual match wins and held a 28-9 overall singles record.
At this fall's ITA Texas Regional, Morris won every match she competed in.
Her mother, Tammy Christensen, played for SMU women's tennis from 1984-1988.
FRESH FACES
SMU added two freshman - Caroline McGinley and Millie Skelton - as the Mustangs announced their signing class in July.
McGinley, hailing to the Hilltop from New Jersey, was the No. 2 ranked player in all of her home state and was ranked in the national top 50 of 2023 recruits.
Great Britain native Millie Skelton is the other remaining new face on the Mustangs' roster
Skelton held a junior ITF ranking of 536 with a career-high ranking of 271.
ALL AROUND THE WORLD
Taylor Johnson traveled to Chenjdu, China to compete in the 2023 World University Games.
Johnson (6-0, 6-0) later advanced to the third round of play for her final round of competition.
"It was such an amazing experience to represent Team USA on such a big stage," said Johnson. "Competing for your country is one of the most special things you can do as an athlete, and I will forever cherish these moments."
LOOKING AHEAD
The Mustangs will face off against five teams that are currently ranked in the top 25 by ITA - No. 2 Texas A&M, No. 7 Texas, No. 9 NC State, No. 15 Duke and No. 17 Vanderbilt.
Of those matches, SMU will host: Vanderbilt (Sunday, Jan. 21)
SMU will play a total of nine home matches at the Styslinger/Altec Tennis Complex in the spring, excluding the American Athletic Conference Championship.
The Mustangs will face five AAC opponents - Rice, Charlotte, USF, Tulsa and Memphis.
UP NEXT
Following play against Duke and NC State, SMU will play their first home match of the season against No. 17 Vanderbilt on Jan. 21. First serve is set for 11 a.m. sharp.
