#31 SMU (12-5, 6-4 ACC) at #42 San Diego State (11-2, 3-1 MWC)     
Thursday, March 26 • 12:30 p.m. CT           
San Diego, Calif. • Aztec Tennis Complex 
Watch • Live Scores • SMU Mobile App           
 
#31 SMU (12-5, 6-4 ACC) vs. South Florida (5-11, 1-2 AAC)    
Sunday, March 29 • 9:30 a.m. CT           
Dallas, Texas • Styslinger/Altec Tennis Complex 
Watch • Live Scores • SMU Mobile App   
 
SETTING THE SCENE          
• The No. 31-ranked SMU women's tennis team steps out of ACC play for a road trip to San Diego State and a home match with South Florida on Thursday and Sunday, respectively.   
• The Mustangs won both their road matches last weekend, defeating Louisville 4-0 and downing Notre Dame 4-3 to improve to 12-5 overall and 6-4 in ACC play.   
• SMU is looking to collect just its second win over San Diego State in seven tries. The Mustangs have won four straight over USF, as the two programs met regularly in the American.
• The Mustangs sit ninth in the ACC women's tennis conference standings. SMU has played 10 conference matches so far, the most in the league. No other team has played more than eight (Louisville, Notre Dame). 

UNBEATEN ROAD WEEKEND  
• SMU got two important results in ACC action last time out, defeating Louisville 4-0 on Friday and Notre Dame 4-3 on Sunday to collect its sixth and seventh true road victories of the season.   
• No. 61 Sophie Llewellyn clinched the match versus Louisville after SMU won all three doubles courts, with a 7-6(5), 6-3 decision on court two. Llewellyn earned her 10th win of dual match play and 20th of the 2025-26 season to lead all Mustangs. The win also marked her fifth conference victory of the year.    
• Caroline McGinley began the first leg of her comeback effort, winning the second frame of her match 6-3, after falling in the first set 6-4. However, McGinley cruised in the third set to claim her 10th win of the season and her fourth straight decision, winning 6-2 in the final set to give SMU the 4-3 win over Notre Dame. McGinley improved to 10-2 with the victory, tying Llewellyn for the team lead in victories this spring. The junior moved to 5-2 in ACC matches this season.    

ACC WEEKLY AWARD  
• The SMU women's tennis team has earned six ACC weekly honors in 2026, led by Amelie Van Impe, who has earned ACC Freshman of the Week twice and Player of the Week once.  • Caroline McGinley was the latest Mustang to earn ACC honors, earning ACC Player of the Week on March 10.  
• Van Impe and McGinley have also earned Doubles Team of the Week twice this season.   
• On March 10, SMU swept the ACC Weekly honors, winning the Doubles Team, Player and Freshman of the Week. It marked the second time in two seasons that the program has done that.   
 
MAKING NATIONAL NOISE     
• Wichelen, Belgium, native, Amelie Van Impe made national noise on March 1 in the Mustangs' matchup against No. 3 North Carolina with a commanding win over the then-No. 1-ranked player in the ITA, Reese Brantmeier, 6-1, 6-2. The win came after nearly defeating the No. 22–ranked player from Duke on court one two days prior, in a match that went unfinished despite her 7-5, 2-6, 5-4 lead.         
• The win propelled Van Impe from unranked to No. 49 in the latest ITA singles poll.     
• Van Impe has been strong since joining the Mustangs in late January. The freshman is a combined 16-1 on the season in doubles and singles, with a 5-0 record in court one and a perfect 10-0 record in doubles.   
 
ITA RANKINGS     
• The SMU court one doubles team of Caroline McGinley and Amelie Van Impe stayed at No. 10 nationally this week, despite falling for the first time this season, the No.-2 ranked pair of Victoria Osuigwe and Gabriella Broadfoot from NC State on Sunday. 
• The duo is a perfect 11-1 this season, while Caroline McGinley is 14-1 in doubles this spring.        
• In singles, Sophie Llewellyn leads the Mustangs at No. 61, while Van Impe moved to No. 63 in the latest rankings.    
• Caroline McGinley and Ellie Mireles remain ranked as a pair in doubles, despite not playing as a pair since the second weekend of the season. They come in at No. 56 this week.    
• As a team, SMU moved up one spot from No. 32 to No. 31 in the latest ITA rankings.  
• San Diego State comes in at No. 42, while South Florida is not ranked in the top 75. Thursday's matchup will be the fifth top-50 matchup for the Mustangs this spring.   

 
THIS WEEK'S OPPONENTS    
• San Diego State brings an 11-2 record into Thursday's contest. The Aztecs have won all nine of their home matches this year, but fell the last time out to Boise State on the road.  
• The Aztecs have one ranked doubles pair in No. 50 Jo-Yee Chan and Vessa Turley.  
• South Florida holds a 5-11 record entering the weekend and has lost five straight matches. The Bulldogs will play Wichita State on Friday before stepping out of conference to play the Mustangs on Sunday.   
 

HISTORIC WIN IN WACO       
• On Feb. 1, 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.          
 
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.           
 
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 to 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.