Mustangs Host Tulsa In Non-Conference Battle Sunday

SMU (8-6, 2-2 ACC) vs Tulsa (11-4, 0-0 AAC)
Sunday, March 9, 2025 – 4 p.m. CT

Styslinger / Altec Tennis Complex – Dallas, Texas
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SETTING THE SCENE

SMU Women's Tennis will host No. 53 Tulsa in the final matchup of their six-match homestand Sunday on ACCNX.
The Mustangs are coming off a 4-3 win over No. 31 Virginia Tech a week ago and a near upset of No. 1 Virginia last Friday.

LAST TIME OUT

The SMU women's tennis team collected its second ACC win of the year, taking down No. 31 Virginia Tech (9-4, 0-3 ACC) at Styslinger/Altec Tennis Complex Sunday afternoon, 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.
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; it was announced by the league office on Tuesday. 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 Ozlem 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 Ozlem 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.

SERIES HISTORY

Tulsa leads the overall series over SMU 17-16, but SMU is 8-5 at home against the Golden Hurricanes.
SMU has won the last three meetings and four of the last five.

SCOUTING THE GOLDEN HURRICANES

Tulsa comes into the matchup with an 11-4 record after defeating Tarleton State 7-0 on Friday.
The Golden Hurricanes are ranked No. 53 in the latest ITA team rankings,
Maria Berlanga Bandera represents the Golden Hurricanes in the ITA singles rankings, coming in at No. 76 with a 17-6 record in the 2024-25 season.
Like the Mustangs, two of their three doubles pairings are ranked by the ITA. Berlanga and partner Lily Hutchings are rated No. 28, while Marianna Manyoma Velasquez and Ana Naranjo Martinez enter the weekend at No. 58.
Last season, Tulsa went 25-5, 12-1 in the ACC, falling in the NCAA Quarterfinals to eventual champion Texas A&M.

SMU IN THE ITA

The weekend's results moved the Mustangs up 15 spots to No. 46 in the latest ITA rankings, released Tuesday, March 4.
Drew Morris is now ranked No. 120 in singles rankings, followed by Sophie Llewellyn sneaking in at No. 124. Two of the three pairings from SMU in doubles are now ranked as Llewellyn and Ellie Pittman come in at No. 45, and Arianna Stavropoulos and Kayla Schefke earned the 64th spot.

FIRST ACC WIN

SMU claimed their 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 of the day. 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.

STEADY DREW

In singles action, Drew Morris has won her last four decisions in singles matches, including her most recent win over No. 24 Annabelle Xu from Virginia 6-2, 7-5, and Semra Aksu from Virginia Tech 6-2, 7-5
Since moving to the No. 3 position, Morris is 6-1.

A YEAR TO REMEMBER

SMU enters their sixth season of the Jeff Nevolo era, coming off a stellar 2024 season in which they produced a 14-12 overall record, claimed the AAC Championship while also reaching the second round of the NCAA tournament after beating No. 33 Alabama 4-3 in Stillwater, Oklahoma. At SMU, Nevolo is 80-49.

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.

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Players Mentioned

Sophie Llewellyn

Caroline McGinley

Drew Morris

Ellie Pittman

Kayla Schefke

Arianna Stavropoulos

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