SMU vs Charlotte

Friday, March 22, 10 a.m.

Halton-Wagner Tennis Complex – Charlotte, North Carolina

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SMU vs USF

Saturday, March 23 1 p.m. 

Halton-Wagner Tennis Complex – Charlotte, North Carolina

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SETTING THE SCENE

SMU continues their road stretch to take on Charlotte and USF in Charlotte, North Carolina on Friday, March 22 and Saturday, March 23.

The Mustangs will face Charlotte in their first match of the week on Friday at 10 a.m. Regardless of results, SMU will transition to playing against USF on Saturday at 1 p.m.

SMU is coming off of a trip to the west coast where they faced then-No. 74 Santa Barbara and then No. 15 San Diego. The Mustangs lost both matches, 2-5 and 1-4, respectively.

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.

 

KNOW THE FOES

Charlotte is currently 13-5 for the 2023-24 season, most recently beating Wichita State, 4-0.

The USF Bulls are 10-7 on the season so far, most recently beating then-No. 40 Yale, 4-2.

USF opened the season with a 0-4 loss against then-No. 4 Georgia.

The 49ers opened the season with a 4-2 loss against Clemson.

 

SERIES HISTORY

The Mustangs face USF for the 14th time in program history, most recently defeating the Bulls 4-0 in 2023 at home.

March 22 2024 will be the first time the Mustangs have faced off against Charlotte.

SUCCESS UNDER NEVOLO

Jeff Nevolo 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 with 4-0 scores.

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.

IN THE RANKINGS

SMU has been mentioned in the International Tennis Association's (ITA) rankings five times so far this season.

As a team, the Mustangs come in currently ranked No. 43.

Doubles pair Taylor Johnson and Lana Mavor are currently the No. 41 ranked pair in the country.

HAD ENOUGH YET?

Graduate student Hadley Doyle is the AAC's reigning Player of the Year.

She defeated No. 75 Valeria Ray in singles play in SMU's home opener against No. 17 Vanderbilt.

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.

Doyle most recently won the first two sets against then-No. 37 Mia Mack at then-No. 15 San Diego, with the third set going unfinished.

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

On the road against No. 15 Duke, Johnson defeated then-No. 65 Shavit Kimchi on court one in Durham.

During SMU's most recent fall slate, graduate student Taylor Johnson defeated then-No. 39 Ozlem Uslu of Virginia Tech.

Johnson most recently swept her singles match in two sets when hosting Rice.

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 record.

She ended last season on a 10-match win streak including a straight set victory in the NCAA first round matchup against Baylor.

Johnson was an ITA Indoors All-Tournament selection (doubles No. 3 - 2021)

As of Feb. 7, Taylor and doubles partner Lana Mavor have been ranked as No. 57 in the doubles rankings for ITA.

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?

Against No. 17 Vanderbilt on Jan. 21, the junior decided the match with her three set thriller against No. 24 Bridget Stammel.

She won the first set 7-5 and the third 7-6.

As a result of her win, she earned AAC Player of the Week honors, as announced by the league on Tuesday.

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.

During the Feb. 7 rankings, Morris was ranked No. 109 in the ITA singles rankings.

During the March 5 rankings, she was ranked No. 118.

Morris is currently 10-12 on the season.

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 freshmen - 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.

Against Duke, McGinley defeated then-No. 78 Karolina Berankova in two sets.

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.

FRESHMAN CLINCHER

Against Wichita State, LSU and TAMUCC, McGinley secured the Mustangs' win by earning the final point of the matches.

She defeated LSU's Kenna Ericksonin three sets (6-2, 5-7, 6-4), Wichita State's Giorgia Roselli, (7-6, 6-4) and the Islanders' Victorie Delattre (6-0, 4-6, 6-1).

Overall, the freshman and New Jersey native is 13-9 on the season and 1-1 against nationally ranked opponents.

 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."

 

DALLAS OPEN

On Saturday, Feb. 3 Taylor Johnson and Drew Morris participated in the Dallas Open's Women's Tennis Classic with professionals Genie Bouchard and Caroline Wozniacki.

Morris paired with Wozniacki and Johnson teamed up with Bouchard in front of an eager crowd.

Johnson and Bouchard won the match, 7-5.

 

LOOKING AHEAD

The Mustangs will face off against two remaining teams that are currently ranked in the top 25 by ITA -  No. 10 Texas A&M and No. 6 Texas.

SMU will play a total of eight more 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 Charlotte and USF, the Mustangs will continue their road stretch by traveling to Oklahoma to take on Tulsa on Saturday, March 30. First serve is set for 1 p.m. sharp.