SETTING THE SCENE
• The Mustangs look to build off two power four wins over Arizona and Baylor over the weekend, with a victory in their lone matchup this week against Grand Canyon on Friday.
• The matchup between the Mustangs and the Lopes is the first meeting between the two programs.
• SMU looks to start the season 5-1 for the first time since 2020.
HISTORIC WIN IN WACO
• Last time out, SMU collected a 4-3 win over Baylor in Waco. It marked the first win over the Bears since 1995.
•
Gina Feistel clinched the winner-take-all final match of the day on court one with a 7-6(3), 0-6, 7-6(4) win over No. 40 Na Dong of Baylor.
• SMU won the doubles point for the fifth time this season and got two wins from courts five and six from
Caroline McGinley and
Natalie Stasny to help secure the victory.
UNBEATEN STANGS
• The two upperclassmen on the roster,
Caroline McGinley and
Natalie Stasny, are both unbeaten in singles play. McGinley is 3-0 while Stasny is a perfect 4-0 this season.
• SMU has three doubles pairings that remain unblemished entering the weekend, led by McGinley and
Ellie Mireles on court one, who hold a 3-0 record, including a ranked win over the No. 24-ranked pairing Giorgia Roselli and Xin Tong Wang from Wichita State two weeks ago.
Sophie Llewellyn and Stasny are also perfect on the year, boasting a 4-0 record in doubles action. McGinley and
Amelie Van Impe are also unbeaten, holding a 2-0 record with two wins over Arizona and a ranked win over No. 61 Dong/Kubacha over Baylor.
ITA RANKINGS
• In the latest ITA rankings that were released on Feb. 4,
Sophie Llewellyn comes in at No. 70
• In doubles, McGinley and Mireles rank No. 44 in the latest doubles list.
LLEWELLYN ADVANCES IN NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
• In her NCAA Championship debut, Llewellyn advanced to the second round of the tournament by defeating Texas A&M's Violeta Martinez 4-6, 6-2, 6-1, before falling to eventual champion Reese Brantmeier in three sets in her next matchup.
• Llewellyn punched her ticket to the NCAA Singles Championships in November after reaching the semifinal round of the ITA Sectional Championships on Saturday.
• Llewellyn became the first Mustang to qualify for the NCAA Individual Championships since Marta Lesniak did so in 2011.
• Llewellyn finished the fall season with a 10-4 record.
NEW LOOK MUSTANGS
• Coach McKenna and staff brought eight newcomers to the 2026 roster, including four true freshmen and one transfer ahead of her first season on the Hilltop.
• Llewellyn and McGinley are the only two returners to the program from the previous season.
VAN IMPE IN ORLANDO
•
Amelie Van Impe earned two wins in the ITF W50 in Orlando this week to qualify for the main draw of the tournament.
• She defeated Sofia Rocchetti 6-1, 6-0 in her first matchup and then beat Victoria Rodriguez 7-6(1), 6-3 in her second matchup.
• Van Impe's run came up short in her first match of the main draw, falling in three sets to Em Burgic 3-6, 6-1, 4-6.
LET THE MCKENNA ERA BEGIN
• Coach McKenna begins her tenure at SMU after serving as the head coach at Wisconsin since 2017.
• McKenna's tenure at Wisconsin was defined by a dramatic program turnaround. When she arrived in the fall of 2016, the Badgers were coming off a 4-16 season and a winless Big Ten campaign. In her second year, Wisconsin began to show progress, and by her third season in 2018-19, the team posted an 18-6 record, finished second in the Big Ten at 9-2, and earned its first NCAA Tournament berth since 2005.
• By 2023, the Badgers had achieved one of the best seasons in school history: 20 victories (first in 25 years), a No. 11 national ranking at their peak (highest since 1996), and a season-ending No. 22 ITA ranking, along with the program's first NCAA Tournament win since 2002. Under McKenna's leadership, Wisconsin evolved from the bottom of the Big Ten into a nationally respected contender, consistently competing against and defeating top-25 programs.
• Over the last three seasons, McKenna has led the Badgers to a record of 58-21, including three straight NCAA Round of 32 appearances. Last season, McKenna coached Maria Sholokhova to a 2024 Women's ITA All-American Singles Championship, becoming the program's first All-American since 1998 in 2025.
• McKenna and Sholokhova became the first coach-player duo, men's or women's, to both win the ITA All-American Singles Championship.
