SMU (9-10, 3-5 ACC) vs. #4 North Carolina (15-4, 6-1 ACC)
Friday, March 28, 2025 – 1 p.m. CT
Chewning Tennis Center – Chapel Hill, N.C.
Watch | Live Scoring
 
SMU (9-10, 3-5 ACC) vs. #9 Duke (15-2, 7-0 ACC)
Sunday, March 30, 2025 – 10 a.m. CT
Abler Tennis Stadium – Durham, N.C.
Watch | Live Scoring 

Instagram | X | Facebook
 
SETTING THE SCENE

• SMU Women's Tennis travels to North Carolina this weekend for matchups against two Top 10 opponents, first against the #4 North Carolina Tar Heels on Friday and then #9 Duke on Sunday morning.
• Last weekend, the Mustangs split their two home matchups, falling to Florida State 4-3 in the first outing and then rebounding with a 4-2 win over #50 Miami on Sunday.

SERIES HISTORY

• SMU is 1-4 against the Tar Heels in the five matchups between the two programs. The Mustangs are 0-3 in Chapel Hill and 1-1 in Dallas. The two teams last met on February 20, 2009, when the Mustangs defeated the Tar Heels 5-2.
• Duke leads the series over SMU 2-0. The last meeting was a season ago when the Blue Devils won 5-2. The first meeting was on February 17, 2008, when Duke won 7-0.

 
SCOUTING THE TAR HEELS

• North Carolina brings a 15-4 overall record and a 6-1 conference record into the weekend. The Tar Heels' first conference loss came to Duke earlier this week. The loss snapped UNC's eight-game losing streak.
• In the ITA rankings, the Tar Heels are ranked #4 in the country. They will be the second-highest-ranked team the Mustangs have faced so far in their first ACC season.
• Four Tar Heels are ranked in the Top 125 by the ITA in singles, spearheaded by No. 9-ranked Reese Brantmeier, who is 10-1 on the season. Theadora Rabman sits at No. 15, followed by Carson Tanguilig at No. 43 and No. 48 Tatum Evans.
• The ITA ranks three pairs in doubles, starting with Susann Maltby and Tanguilig, who are ranked 9th. Alanis Hamilton and Brantmeier are ranked No. 20 in the latest rankings, followed by Evans and Rabman, who are ranked 46th.
• Last season, the Tar Heels went 24-4, 12-1 in the ACC. UNC went on to win the ACC Championships, defeating Virginia in the title game 4-1; however, their season ended in the NCAA Super Regionals to eventual National Champion Texas A&M.

 
SCOUTING THE BLUE DEVILS

• Duke brings a 15-2 record into the weekend with a 7-0 record in conference play, coming off a 4-2 win over the state rival North Carolina on Wednesday. The Blue Devils only two losses came in back-to-back outings against #18 Ohio State and #5 Virginia in non-conference play. They also ride a 10-match win streak into Sunday's matchup.
• The Blue Devils are ranked 9th in the ITA rankings. Individually, Duke has five players ranked by the ITA: Irina Balus (#12), Emma Jackson (#25), Eleana Yu (#41), Shavit Kimchi (#66), and Elizabeth Coleman (#125). In doubles, Coleman and Balus represent the Blue Devils as the 13th-ranked pairing in the nation.

 
ON A ROLL

• Graduate student Arianna Stavropoulos has won seven streak decisions in singles action and is 7-1 in her last ten appearances. The transfer from UC Davis is tied for the team lead in singles wins with 10 in the dual season, including two ranked wins against #60 Isabelle Lacy of Virginia and #110 Greta Greco Lucchina from Cal.

 
BOUNCE BACK AGAINST MIAMI

• SMU Women's Tennis got back in the win column Sunday afternoon, defeating #50 Miami (8-7, 3-3 ACC) 4-2 at the Styslinger/Altec Tennis Complex. The Mustangs improve to 9-10, 3-5 in the ACC. The match was the Mustangs' final home conference match of their inaugural season in the ACC.
• Caroline McGinley and Sophie Llewellyn collected their second win of the weekend for the first result in doubles action, as they took down #25 Xinyi Nong and Raquel Gonzalez (UM) 6-1. Kayla Schefke and Arianna Stavropoulos clinched the doubles point for the Mustangs with a 7-6 (7-0) win over Jaquelyn Ogunwale and Aely Arai.
• Drew Morris added to the Mustangs' lead in singles action with a 6-3, 6-0 win over Jaquelyn Ogunwale (UM) on court two, her second of the weekend and fifth against ACC competition. Miami got their first win of the match on court three as #109 Raquel Gonzalez (UM) defeated Ellie Pittman 6-2, 6-3. The Hurricanes evened the score on court one, with #63 Alexa Noel getting the best of Sophie Llewellyn 6-3, 7-6 (7-4). The Mustangs fought back to regain the lead and win the match, starting with a 6-1, 2-6, 6-2 win by Caroline McGinley over Daria Volosova (UM). Arianna Stavropoulos called game for the Mustangs, winning her seventh straight singles match with a 6-7 (7-4), 6-2, 6-0 win over Aely Arai (UM).

 
TAKING DOWN THE HOKIES

• The SMU women's tennis team collected its second ACC win, taking down No. 31 Virginia Tech (9-4, 0-3 ACC) at Styslinger/Altec Tennis Complex on March 2, 4-3. 
• SMU secured a quick doubles point with two dominant performances on courts one and three. Sophie Llewellyn and Ellie Pittman swept No. 51 Charlotte Cartledge/Özlem Uslu (VT) 6-0, and then Arianna Stavropoulos and Kayla Schefke clinched the doubles point with a 6-1 win over Semra Aksu/Linda Ziets-Segura. 
• Virginia Tech clawed back to take a one-point lead in singles, but Llewellyn battled back from an opening set loss to claim a 3-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-3 win over No. 23 Özlem Uslu on court one. Then, Stavropoulos clinched the match in a third-set tiebreaker, defeating Arina Gamretkaia 5-7, 6-3, 7-6 (7-3), her third straight singles win.

 
MUSTANGS SWEEP ACC WEEKLY AWARDS

• SMU Women's Tennis earns all three ACC weekly honors, announced by the league office on Tuesday, March 4. Graduate student Arianna Stavropoulos has been named ACC Women's Tennis Player of the Week, and Sophie Llewellyn earned ACC Freshman of the Week. Along with the individual awards, Llewellyn and Ellie Pittman secured ACC Doubles Team of the Week. It is the first weekly conference award for Llewellyn and Pittman and their careers. Stavropoulos won two Big West Women's Tennis Player of the Week honors at UC Davis in her three seasons with the program before SMU.
• Stavropoulos earned Player of the Week honors after going an unbeaten 4-0 this week in the Mustangs' home matches against No. 1 Virginia and No. 31 Virginia Tech. Stavropoulos earned her first-ranked singles win of the dual season, defeating No. 60 Isabelle Lacy 7-5, 6-1 from Virginia, and won the clincher over Virginia Tech with a 5-7, 6-3, 7-6 (7-3) win over Arina Gamretkaia. In doubles action, Stavropoulos and Kayla Schefke have won four straight, including a win over the No. 38 ranked doubles pairing in the ITA rankings from Virginia in Sara Ziodato and Meggie Navarro 6-2, and a victory over Semra Aksu and Linda Ziets-Segura from Virginia Tech 6-1, with both wins clinching the doubles point for the Mustangs.
• Sophie Llewellyn has held the No. 1 position in singles since the beginning of February as a freshman. Llewellyn fell short to the No. 19-ranked singles player Sara Ziodato from Virginia 0-6, 4-6 but bounced back with her first-ranked singles win of the year, topping No. 23 Özlem Uslu from Virginia Tech 3-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-3 to tie the match 3-3.
• Llewellyn and Ellie Pittman collected two dominant wins over the weekend, the first being against Isabelle Lacy and Elaine Chervinsky from Virginia 6-1 and then a 6-0 victory over the No. 51 ranked pairing from Virginia Tech, Charlotte Cartledge and Özlem Uslu, on Sunday. The doubles team has been strong in doubles all spring, holding a 10-3 record together and a perfect 4-0 mark to start ACC play.

 
MUSTANGS IN THE ITA RANKINGS

• The Mustangs enter the weekend ranked No. 61 in the latest ITA team rankings.
• Ellie Pittman and Sophie Llewellyn are ranked No. 35 in doubles in the newest addition of the rankings.

 
DOWN GO THE HOKIES

• SMU Women's Tennis collected its second ACC win, taking down No. 31 Virginia Tech (9-4, 0-3 ACC) at Styslinger/Altec Tennis Complex 4-3. 
• "Today was an incredible college tennis match," head coach Jeff Nevolo said. "Each court was a battle, and we did a great job competing. The team put in a lot of work this week. It was obvious that we got better and played with more confidence down the stretch when it mattered."
• SMU secured a quick doubles point with two dominant performances on courts one and three. Sophie Llewellyn and Ellie Pittman swept No. 51 Charlotte Cartledge/Özlem Uslu (VT) 6-0, and then Arianna Stavropoulos and Kayla Schefke clinched the doubles point with a 6-1 win over Semra Aksu/Linda Ziets-Segura. Llewellyn and Pittman improved to 10-3 in spring doubles action and 4-0 in ACC play. Stavropoulos and Schefke are 4-0 as a pairing in doubles and are a perfect 3-0 against ACC foes.
• Drew Morris extended the Mustangs' lead in singles action, winning her six straight of the spring with a 6-2, 7-5 win over Semra Aksu from Virginia Tech. Virginia clawed back to take a one-point lead, winning three close battles on courts six, two, and five. Down one, the Mustangs showed confidence down the stretch, leading to a 4-3 win over the Hokies. Llewellyn battled back from an opening set loss to claim a 3-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-3 win over #23 Özlem Uslu on court one. Then, Stavropoulos clinched the match in a third-set tiebreaker, defeating Arina Gamretkaia 5-7, 6-3, 7-6 (7-3), her third straight singles win.

 
FIRST ACC WIN

• SMU claimed its first ACC win in its inaugural season, defeating Louisville 4-1 on Sunday.
• Sophie Llewellyn and Ellie Pittman extended their win streak to four straight doubles wins as a pairing, defeating Allie Gretkowski and Lika Peresypkina 6-1. Kayla Schefke and Arianna Stavropoulos followed with a 6-2 win to give SMU their first point. Before the point was clinched, Drew Morris and Caroline McGinley held firm against the No. 82-ranked tandem Elisabeth Iila and Alice Otis, with the matchup locked at 4-4 before the stoppage.
• SMU jumped to a 3-0 lead in singles action by winning on courts four and two. Stavropoulos earned the first singles win for the Mustangs against Louisville, defeating Allie Gretkowski 6-0, 6-4. Then, Ellie Pittman collected her sixth singles win of the dual match season with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Lika Peresypkina.
• The Cardinals got one back on court five, as Germany Davis got the best of McGinley 6-1, 7-5, but Sophie Llewellyn clinched the match for SMU at position one, winning 7-5, 6-3 over Alice Otis.

 
A YEAR TO REMEMBER

• SMU is in its sixth season of the Jeff Nevolo era, coming off a stellar 2023-24 season in which it produced a 14-12 overall record, claimed the AAC Championship, and reached the second round of the NCAA tournament after beating No. 33 Alabama 4-3 in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

 Keep up with all the latest news and information on the Mustangs by following SMU Women's Tennis on X @SMUWTennis, on Instagram @smuwtennis, and on Facebook @SMUWomensTennis or check out information online at smumustangs.com.