SETTING THE SCENE

• SMU Women's Tennis concludes its first regular season as members of the ACC this weekend on the road, visiting No. 37 Clemson and No. 28 Georgia Tech.
• The Mustangs won both their matches last time out in a doubleheader, with two non-conference victories over No. 49 Wichita State and Tarleton State.
• The Mustangs look to snap a two-match conference road skid in their final two matches before the ACC Tournament begins on April 15.
• Associated Head Coach Alexis Casati will return to Georgia Tech, where she spent three seasons before her second stint with SMU starting this year.

 
SERIES HISTORY

• The first matchup between the Tigers and Mustangs was earlier this season, where Clemson won 4-1 at the ITA Kickoff Weekend in the Stillwater regional.  
• Georgia Tech took the only meeting between the two programs in 1998, winning 7-2 in Dallas.

 
SCOUTING THE TIGERS

• Clemson enters the weekend with a 13-10 overall record, having lost four straight matches against ACC opponents.
• The Tigers are ranked No. 37 in the country in the ITA rankings.
• Sophia Hatton represents Clemson in the ITA singles rankings, coming in at No. 111 in the April 8 edition of the list. Amelie Smejkalova and Gaia Parravicini are ranked No. 39 in doubles, while Candela Yecora and Romana Cisovska are rated No. 77.
• Last season, Wichita State went 13-13, 2-9 in ACC play. The Tigers made some noise in the ACC Tournament, winning their first and second-round matchups before falling to NC State 4-0 in the Quarterfinal.

 
LAST MATCHUP WITH THE TIGERS
STILLWATER, Okla. (SMU) – The SMU women's tennis team fell 4-1 to Clemson in the ITA Kickoff Weekend consolation round in Stillwater Sunday afternoon. The Mustangs moved to 1-3 in the spring season.
 
"Our team put itself in winning situations in both matches this weekend. We have to do a better job consolidating leads. Every match we play this year is going to require everything we have, and we have to stay committed to improving each match."
 
After a series of tightly contested matches, the Tigers struck first by clinching the doubles point. Annabelle Davis and Sophia Hatton gave the Tigers their first doubles win with a 6-3 victory on court three over Drew Morris and Arianna Stavropoulos. Unbeaten in doubles play in the spring, Sophie Llewellyn and Ellie Pittman raced off to an early advantage on court two, but the Tigers stormed back to force a tie-breaking set. The No. 75 ranked tandem Tigers tandem Romana Cisovska, and Candela Yecora proceeded to win the tiebreaker 7-1, securing the doubles point. June Bjork and Caroline McGinley held a 6-5 lead on court one prior to the clinch.
 
The match moved on to singles play, where Clemson added to their lead as Artemis Aslanisvili handed Millie Skelton her first loss of the spring, winning 6-2, 6-0 on court five. June Bjork put the Mustangs on the board with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Candela Yecora in the sixth position. However, the Tigers stretched their advantage back out to two on court one, where Amelia Smejkalova defeated Drew Morris, 6-2, 6-3. Then, Annabelle Davis got the best of Arianna Stavropoulos to clinch the match, fighting back after Stavropoulos took the first set 6-4 to win at position four in three sets, including a tiebreaker in set two.
 
SCOUTING THE YELLOW JACKETS

• Georgia Tech is 12-9 overall, 6-5 in ACC play in the 2025 spring season.
• The Yellow Jackets split their two matches last weekend, winning 4-3 over Louisville and then falling 4-2 to Notre Dame.
• The Yellow Jackets enter the weekend ranked No. 28 by the ITA.
• Two doubles pairings are also ranked by the ITA for Georgia Tech. Alejandra Cruz and Given Roach are ranked No. 78 as a pairing, and Kylie Bilchev and Scarlett Nicholson are ranked No. 82. In singles, Nicholson is the highest ranked Yellow Jacket at No. 31, followed by Cruz, who is No. 85 in the country.
• Last season, the Yellow Jackets went 14-10, 9-4 in ACC action. They fell to Clemson in the second round of the ACC Tournament.

 
ACC TOURNAMENT

• The ACC Championships are set to begin on April 15 with the 16 vs. 17 seed matchups.
• SMU heads into the weekend in 13th place in the ACC standings, but with positive results this weekend, it can move up a few spots.
• Clemson is one spot behind the Mustangs, while Georgia Tech is 8th, three points ahead of SMU.
• The tournament will run from Tuesday, April 15, until the championship match on Sunday, April 20.

 
ON A ROLL

• Graduate student Arianna Stavropoulos is 6-1 in her last ten appearances and holds a 7-1 record in ACC matches.
• The transfer from UC Davis is tied for the team lead in singles wins with 11 in the dual season, including three ranked victories against No. 60 Isabelle Lacy of Virginia, No. 110 Greta Greco Lucchina from California, and most recently against No. 66 Shavit Kimchi from Duke last time out.
• Stavropoulos transferred to the Hilltop for her last season after three successful years out west at UC Davis. 

 
FIFTH STRAIGHT WIN OVER SHOCKERS

• The Mustangs took down the Shockers for the fifth straight time, winning 4-1 to start last Sunday's doubleheader.
• The Mustangs won the doubles point over the Shockers, starting with a win on court three by Kayla Schefke and Arianna Stavropoulos over Tatyanna Nikolenko and Anne Knuettel of Wichita State 6-2. Sophie Llewellyn and Caroline McGinley clinched the doubles point with a 6-3 win over Giorgia Roselli and Theodora Chantava.
• In singles play versus Wichita State, Ellie Pittman stretched the lead for the Mustangs on court three with a 6-1, 6-4 over Kristina Kudryavtseva. Sophie Llewellyn drew the Mustangs within one point of the clinch with a ranked win over No. 94 Xin Tong Wang, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3. Wichita State's Theodora Chantava got a point back for the Shockers as she got the best of Arianna Stavropoulos, 2-6, 6-2, 6-4, on court four. However, Kayla Schefke closed the match with a win over Anne Knuettel in comeback fashion, 2-6, 6-2, 6-4.

 
ROOKIE STUD

• Sophie Llewellyn, a freshman from Tarpon Springs, Fla., has led the Mustangs on court one for most of the season.
• Llewellyn has held her own in her first collegiate season against some of the best competition in the country.
• Llewellyn has played nine ranked players this season, including two in the top 10 by the ITA. Llewellyn has collected two ranked wins over No. 23 Ozlem Uslu (23) from Virginia Tech earlier in the year and No. 94 Xin Tong Wang (94) from Wichita State last time out.

 
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 improved 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 its 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. 56 in the latest ITA team rankings.
• Ellie Pittman and Sophie Llewellyn are ranked No. 60 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.