SMU women’s tennis saw its ACC Championship run end in a 4-3 loss to Stanford after the Mustangs grabbed doubles and pushed the match to the limit.
SMU women’s tennis came up just short Thursday in the ACC Championships, falling 4-3 to Stanford in a tightly contested third-round match in Cary, North Carolina.
The Mustangs opened strong by securing the doubles point and later moved within one court of victory, but Stanford rallied late to end SMU’s conference tournament run.
The loss leaves SMU at 15-7 overall in its first season under head coach Kelcy McKenna, while Stanford improved to 12-8 and advanced to the quarterfinals.
Even in defeat, the Mustangs showed why they’ve been one of the more competitive teams in the conference, battling through a back-and-forth match that wasn’t decided until the final singles result.
SMU built early momentum in doubles. Sophie Llewellyn and Natalie Stasny delivered a dominant 6-1 win on court two, improving to 13-6 together this spring.
Ellie Mireles and Addison Comiskey matched that score on court three, clinching the opening point and giving the Mustangs a strong start.
In singles, Stanford answered quickly to level the match, but SMU didn’t back down. Ellie Mireles gave the Mustangs a lift with a straight-set 6-2, 6-2 win on court five. Shortly after, No. 27 Amelie Van Impe turned in another statement performance, beating No. 25 Monika Ekstrand 6-2, 6-3.
That result gave SMU a 3-2 edge and extended Van Impe’s ranked win streak to three matches.
From there, the Cardinal found just enough late-match success to flip the outcome. Stanford picked up wins on courts four and six to draw even before the deciding match on court two went the distance.
Sophie Llewellyn forced a third set after bouncing back in the second, but Stanford’s Alyssa Ahn closed it out 6-3 in the final set to seal the comeback.
Now the Mustangs turn their attention to the NCAA Tournament selection show on Monday, April 27, with postseason hopes still very much alive.
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