#30 SMU (14-5, 6-4 ACC) vs. #23 California (10-6, 7-4 ACC)
Friday, April 10 • 5 p.m. CT
Dallas, Texas • Styslinger/Altec Tennis Complex
Watch • Live Scores • SMU Mobile App
#30 SMU (14-5, 6-4 ACC) vs. #47 Stanford (11-8, 7-4 ACC)
Sunday, April 12 • 12 p.m. CT
Dallas, Texas • Styslinger/Altec Tennis Complex
Watch • Live Scores • SMU Mobile App
SETTING THE SCENE
• After a week off from competition, the No. 30-ranked SMU women's tennis team gets back on the courts with matches against No. 23 Cal on Friday and No. 47 Stanford on Sunday to close out the regular season in year one under Head Coach Kelsy McKenna.
• The Mustangs have won four straight matches, the second-longest streak of the season.
• SMU aims to earn its first win over the Stanford Cardinal and look to beat the California Bears for the first time since 1987.
• The Mustangs sit in eighth place in the ACC standings, right behind both California and Stanford. SMU can move up to as high as sixth with two wins this weekend, which will solidify a bye in this year's ACC Tournament starting on April 14.
LAST TIME OUT
• SMU swept both No. 42 San Diego State and South Florida in their last two matches.
• The Mustangs won both doubles points and have now won 16 out of 19 doubles points this season.
• In the match against San Diego State, No. 10-ranked Amelie Van Impe and Caroline McGinley collected their sixth ranked win of the season, defeating San Diego State's No. 50-ranked pair of Jo-Yee Chan and Vessa Turley, 6-4. No. 63-ranked Amelie Van Impe clinched the match for SMU with a 7-5, 6-1 win on court one singles.
• At home against South Florida, No. 63 Amelie Van Impe and No. 61 Sophie Llewellyn finished within seconds of each other on courts one and two, respectively. Van Impe downed Melisa Senli 6-3, 6-1, and the Llewellyn clinched the match with a 6-2, 6-2 decision over Sienna Leeson of South Florida.
• The win marks the team-leading 12th for Llewellyn and the 10th for Van Impe in dual match play. Llewellyn leads the team with a combined 24 dual matches wins across doubles and singles, and 39 wins between the fall and spring seasons of her sophomore campaign.
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 following ITA singles poll.
• Van Impe has been strong since joining the Mustangs in late January. The freshman is a combined 23-5 on the season in doubles and singles, with a 9-2 record in court one and a 13-2 record in doubles.
ITA RANKINGS
• The SMU court one doubles team of Caroline McGinley and Amelie Van Impe enters the final weekend at No. 21 nationally. The duo is a perfect 13-2 this season, while Caroline McGinley is 16-2 in doubles this spring.
• Van Impe leads the Mustangs at No. 59 in singles, while Sophie Llewellyn also represents SMU in the ITA rankings for singles at No. 80 this week.
• 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. 76 this week.
• As a team, SMU dropped from No. 25 to No. 30 in its off week.
• California comes in at No. 23, while Stanford is ranked No. 47. California has four singles players ranked, led by Berta Passola Folch, who comes in at No. 13. In doubles, they have the No. 59 and No. 85-ranked pairs in the latest rankings.
• Stanford has three singles players ranked, led by Valerie Glozman, who comes in at No. 15 in the April 7th edition of the rankings. No doubles pairs are ranked for the Cardinal.
THIS WEEK'S OPPONENTS
• California brings a 10-6 record into Friday's contest. The Bears were swept by Stanford at home in their last match on Tuesday. Cal is 7-4 in ACC matches this season and 4-2 on the road overall.
• Stanford brings an 11-8 record into Sunday's matchup and is 7-4 in ACC play this season. They are coming off a big rivalry sweep over Cal on Tuesday. The Cardinal are 5-2 on the road.
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 six newcomers to the 2026 roster, including five 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, while Natalie Stasny transferred in after two seasons at Michigan State.
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.
