SMU women’s tennis suffered a first round exit in their inaugural ACC Championship, with the men’s team losing a second-round bout against Virginia not long after.
The SMU women’s team entered the tournament in Cary, North Carolina, on April 16 as the 11th seed, but were defeated by Wake Forest, the tournament’s 14th seed. The Demon Deacons won the match 4-2.
Wake Forest began the match by claiming the doubles point, defeating SMU’s top duo, freshman Sophie Llewelyn and sophomore Caroline McGinley, in a crucial matchup. In singles play, the Mustangs galloped back into the lead, as both senior Drew Morris and graduate student Arianna Stavropoulos snatched impressive victories. Ultimately, Wake Forest had the last laugh, clinching the match on courts one, three and five.
The men’s squad made it slightly further than the women’s team, upsetting 12th seed Virginia Tech 4-1. Impressive doubles wins by freshmen teammates Georgi Georgiev and Ofek Shimanov and sophomore Trevor Svajda and senior Louis Cloud sparked enough momentum to carry the Mustangs into a second-round matchup on April 17, with the fifth-seeded Virginia Cavaliers.
SMU once again jumped out to an early lead by winning the doubles point, but despite a strong singles win by Shimanov, the Mustangs ultimately couldn’t hold the lead against the Cavaliers.
The men’s team finished with an overall record of 15-19 and 2-11 in conference play. The women’s team wasn’t far off, going 12-14 with a 4-8 showing in the ACC.
While neither team was spectacular in the ACC, both boasted rosters loaded with promising young talent. Llewelyn won ACC Freshman of the Week in March and had a doubles victory against top-ranked Virginia. Georgiev and Shimanov also saw considerable success as a rare, freshmen duo.
The men’s and women’s ACC Tennis Championship concluded on Sunday, April 20.