No. 11 Seed #56 SMU (12-13, 4-8 ACC) vs. No. 14 Seed #41 Wake Forest (14-12, 3-9 ACC)
Wednesday, April 16, 2025 – 11:30 a.m. CT
Cary Tennis Park – Cary, N.C.
Watch | Live Scoring | Tournament Central
Instagram | X | Facebook
 
SETTING THE SCENE

• SMU Women's Tennis will make its ACC Championships debut against the No. 14 seed Wake Forest Demon Deacons on Wednesday at 11:30 am CT in Cary, North Carolina.
• The Mustangs defeated No. 28-ranked Georgia Tech on Sunday in Atlanta to close out their first regular season in the ACC.  

 
SERIES HISTORY

• Wake Forest won the first and only matchup between the two programs, defeating the Mustangs 4-1 in 2020.

 
SCOUTING THE DEMON DEACONS

• Wake Forest enters the match with an overall record of 14-10, having lost four straight matches. In conference play, the Demon Deacons are 3-9.
• Wake Forest enters week No. 41 in the country in the ITA rankings.
• Nevena Carton represents Wake Forest in the ITA singles rankings, coming in at No. 82 in the April 15 edition of the list. Makayla Mills and Krystal Blanch are ranked No. 79 in doubles, while Kady Tannenbaum and Carton are rated No. 88.
• Last season, the Demon Deacons went 15-14, 6-7 in ACC play. Wake Forest lost its opening-round matchups in the ACC and NCAA Tournaments to Duke and Vanderbilt to close out its 2023-24 campaign.

 
MUSTANGS IN THE ITA RANKINGS

• The Mustangs enter the weekend ranked No. 48 in the latest ITA team rankings.
• Ellie Pittman and Sophie Llewellyn are ranked No. 58 in doubles in the newest addition of the rankings.

 
CLUTCH CAROLINE VERSUS THE YELLOW JACKETS

• SMU Women's Tennis closed out the regular season with a 4-3 come-from-behind victory over No. 28 Georgia Tech, its highest-ranked win of the season. After dropping the first set of her match 6-4, Caroline McGinley rallied for back-to-back 7-5 wins in the final two sets to give SMU the victory Sunday afternoon in Atlanta.
• "We're very proud of this group," head Coach Jeff Nevolo said after the match. "Getting a win on the road against an ACC opponent is always a battle. So much respect for coach Harmon and the Georgia Tech program. It was an incredible college tennis match."
• The Mustangs collected the doubles point in their final regular-season matchup, winning 6-3 on courts two and three. Kayla Schefke and Arianna Stavropoulos defeated Meera Jesudason/Kate Sharabura (GT), followed by a ranked win for Ellie Pittman and Drew Morris as they took down No. 78 Alejandra Cruz/Given Roach (GT) on court two.
• Georgia Tech won three straight in singles play to take a 3-1 advantage. Georgia Tech's Taly Licht won over Schefke 6-4, 6-1, followed by a 6-3, 6-2 win by No. 85 Alejandra Cruz over Morris. The Yellow Jackets' third win game on court one, where No. 31 Scarlett Nicholson took down freshman Sophie Llewellyn 6-3, 6-4.
• Arianna Stavropoulos kept the Mustangs alive with a 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 win over Given Roach (GT) on court four. Ellie Pittman then evened the match with a 7-6 (8-6, 3-6, 7-6 (7-2) win over Kate Sharbura (GT), improving to 2-0 in singles on the week. On the deciding court of the match, Caroline McGinley took care of business, clinching a 4-3 win over No. 28 Georgia Tech with a 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 over Kylie Bilchev (GT).

 
FIFITH 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 SENSATION

• 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 ten 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 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 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.

 
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.