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\n Story Links
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<\/p>\n
#30\u00a0SMU (7-2, 1-1 ACC)\u00a0vs.\u00a0#20 Duke\u00a0(8-2, 2-0\u00a0ACC)\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 ACC WEEKLY HONORS\u00a0 \u00a0
\nFriday, Feb.\u00a027\u00a0\u2022\u00a05\u00a0p.m. CT\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0
\nDallas, Texas\u00a0\u2022\u00a0Styslinger\/Altec Tennis Complex\u00a0 \u00a0
\nWatch<\/a>\u00a0\u2022 Live Scores<\/a>\u00a0\u2022 SMU Mobile App<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0
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\n#30\u00a0SMU (7-2, 1-1 ACC)\u00a0vs.\u00a0#3\u00a0North Carolina\u00a0(13-1, 2-0\u00a0ACC)\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0
\nSunday,\u00a0March 1\u00a0\u2022 12\u00a0p.m. CT\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0
\nDallas, Texas\u00a0\u2022\u00a0Styslinger\/Altec Tennis Complex\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0
\nWatch<\/a>\u00a0\u2022 Live Scores<\/a>\u00a0\u2022 SMU Mobile App<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0
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\nSETTING THE SCENE\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0
\n\u2022 The No. 30-ranked SMU women’s tennis team is set to\u00a0host\u00a0two top 20\u00a0teams this weekend in No. 20 Duke on Friday and No. 3 North Carolina on Sunday.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0
\n\u2022\u00a0The Mustangs went 1-1 in the opening weekend of ACC play, defeating Virginia Tech 4-1\u00a0last Friday before falling to No. 15 Virginia 4-1 on Sunday.\u00a0 \u00a0
\n\u2022\u00a0SMU enters the weekend 7-2 on the season and a perfect 4-0 at home. \u00a0
\n\u2022\u00a0A win\u00a0over No. 20 Duke would be the highest ranked win since the Mustangs defeated No. 17 Vanderbilt in 2023.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 Amelie Van Impe<\/a>\u00a0has been tabbed\u00a0ACC Co-Freshman of the Week, while Caroline McGinley<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Van Impe\u00a0have\u00a0been\u00a0named ACC Co-Doubles Team of the Week, it was announced by the conference on Tuesday.\u00a0 \u00a0
\n\u2022 The Wichelen, Belgium native Van Impe, had a standout weekend for the Mustangs, going 2-0 in doubles and 1-0 in singles on court one. Against No. 15 Virginia, Van Impe claimed her first ranked singles win of the season, defeating No. 56 Vivian Yang 6-4, 6-2 on Sunday. Van Impe improved to 4-1 in the spring and 3-0 on court one. \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0
\n\u2022\u00a0In a 4-1 victory over Virginia Tech on Friday, Van Impe and McGinley clinched the doubles point for SMU by winning 6-2 over the Hokies’ court one doubles pair. The tandem followed that up with a 6-4 victory over Virginia’s court one doubles team, who is the\u00a0No. 3-ranked team in the ITA, Melodie Collard\u00a0and Vivian Yang. \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0
\n\u2022 With the two wins, Van Impe and McGinley are now 6-0 in the spring, 2-0 against ranked doubles teams. \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0
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\nUNBEATEN STANGS\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0
\n\u2022\u00a0The two upperclassmen\u00a0on the roster, Caroline McGinley<\/a>\u00a0and Natalie Stasny<\/a>, are both unbeaten in singles play. The juniors are 6-0 in singles matches this season.\u00a0McGinley in the spring is a perfect 9-0 in doubles.\u00a0 \u00a0
\n\u2022\u00a0SMU is 18-4\u00a0in doubles matches this season. Caroline McGinley<\/a>\u00a0and Amelie Van Impe<\/a>\u00a0are\u00a06-0 together on court one. SMU as a team is 8-1 in doubles points this\u00a0season.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0
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\nITA RANKINGS\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0
\n\u2022\u00a0In the latest\u00a0singles\u00a0and doubles\u00a0ITA\u00a0rankings that were released on Feb.\u00a019, the\u00a0sophomore Sophie Llewellyn<\/a>\u00a0moved up\u00a0to No. 66\u00a0in singles.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0
\n\u2022\u00a0In doubles, McGinley\u00a0and Mireles\u00a0rank\u00a0No. 42.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0
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\nTHE OPPONENTS\u00a0 \u00a0
\n\u2022\u00a0Duke enters the weekend 8-2 overall and 2-0 in ACC play. The Blue Devils beat Boston College and Syracuse\u00a0a combined 9-0 to open conference action.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0
\n\u2022\u00a0The Blue Devils have four ranked\u00a0singles\u00a0players in the ITA,\u00a0led\u00a0by No. 22\u00a0Irina Balus.\u00a0In doubles, Duke has three pairs ranked inside the top 40.\u00a0 \u00a0
\n\u2022\u00a0North Carolina brings a 13-1 overall record and a 2-0 ACC record into the weekend. The Tar Heels have won five straight, including a pair of 4-0 victories over Boston College and Syracuse.\u00a0 \u00a0
\n\u2022 North Carolina has six singles players ranked by the ITA, including the No. 1-ranked player, Reese Brantmeier. In doubles, the Tar\u00a0Heels have four different pairs ranked by the ITA.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0
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\nHISTORIC WIN IN WACO\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0
\n\u2022\u00a0On Feb. 1, SMU collected a 4-3 win over Baylor in Waco. It marked the first win over the Bears since 1995.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0
\n\u2022 Gina Feistel<\/a>\u00a0clinched 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.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0
\n\u2022\u00a0SMU won the doubles point for the fifth time this season and got two wins from courts five and six from Caroline McGinley<\/a>\u00a0and Natalie Stasny<\/a>\u00a0to help secure the victory.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0
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\nLLEWELLYN ADVANCES IN NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0
\n\u2022\u00a0In 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.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0
\n\u2022\u00a0Llewellyn punched her ticket to the NCAA Singles Championships in November after reaching the semifinal round of the ITA Sectional Championships on Saturday.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0
\n\u2022\u00a0Llewellyn became the first Mustang to qualify for the NCAA Individual Championships since Marta Lesniak did so in 2011.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0
\n\u2022\u00a0Llewellyn finished the fall season with a 10-4 record.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0
\n\u00a0
\nNEW LOOK MUSTANGS\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0
\n\u2022\u00a0Coach 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.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0
\n\u2022\u00a0Llewellyn and McGinley are the only two returners to the program from the previous\u00a0season.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0
\n\u00a0
\nLET THE MCKENNA ERA BEGIN\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0
\n\u2022\u00a0Coach McKenna begins her tenure at SMU after serving as the head coach at Wisconsin since 2017.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0
\n\u2022\u00a0McKenna’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.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0
\n\u2022\u00a0By 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.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0
\n\u2022\u00a0Over 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.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0
\n\u2022\u00a0McKenna and Sholokhova became the first coach-player duo, men’s\u00a0or women’s, to both win the ITA All-American Singles Championship.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0
\n\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Story Links
#30\u00a0SMU (7-2, 1-1 ACC)\u00a0vs.\u00a0#20 Duke\u00a0(8-2, 2-0\u00a0ACC)\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0
Friday, Feb.\u00a027\u00a0\u2022\u00a05\u00a0p.m. CT\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0
Dallas, Texas\u00a0\u2022\u00a0Styslinger\/Altec…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":506017,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[565],"tags":[64,63,85,747],"class_list":["post-506016","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-sports","tag-tennis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/506016","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=506016"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/506016\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/506017"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=506016"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=506016"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=506016"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}