IRVING, Texas – The SMU Mustangs have earned the No. 1 seed for the 2024 American Athletic Conference Women’s Tennis Championship, which begins Wednesday at the Styslinger/Altec Tennis Complex in Dallas.
 
The Mustangs closed their regular season with a 4-3 win against Memphis Monday, a result that lifted SMU into the top spot among American Athletic Conference teams in the ITA Collegiate Tennis Rankings, which determine the seeds for the conference championship. 
 
SMU, which received one of four double-byes to the quarterfinal round, will begin tournament play on its home courts Friday against the winner of Thursday’s second-round match between UTSA and Tulane.
 
SMU, which earned the No. 1 for the second straight season, won its first American Athletic Conference title last season.
 
Charlotte earned the No. 2 seed in its first season in The American. The 49ers will begin play Friday in the quarterfinals against either Tulsa or Wichita State.
 
Memphis, which won the 2022 American title, claimed the No. 3 seed and will face either Temple, UAB or Florida Atlantic in the quarterfinals.
 
Rice took the final double bye as the Owls were seeded No. 4 in their first year in The American. Rice reached the championship final last year in its final season in Conference USA. The Owls will face either East Carolina, North Texas or South Florida in this year’s quarterfinals.
 
The women’s championship begins Wednesday, April 17, and continues through the April 21 final. The winner of the women’s championship will earn The American’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division I Tennis Championships.
 
Complete coverage of The American Tennis Championships, including live scoring of each match, can be found on the conference’s Championship Central site. Live coverage of the championship final will be available on ESPN+.
 
 
Championship Notes
SMU is seeded No. 1 in The American Championship for the second consecutive season.
 
The Mustangs turned in the most dominant performance in tournament history last year, winning all three matches by 4-0 scores, taking all 12 singles contests in straight sets and going 6-0 in doubles during the tournament.
 
Tulsa enters the American Women’s Tennis Championship in search of its fourth tournament title. The Golden Hurricane, seeded No. 10 in this year’s event, previously won the championship in 2015, 2016 and 2018. Tulsa is 17-5 all-time in the American Championship and has the best winning percentage in the tournament of any team (.773).
 
The No. 1 seed has won the team championship four times in the tournament’s nine-year history (Tulsa in 2016, UCF in 2019 and 2021, SMU in 2022).  The championship has been won by a No. 1 seed, a No. 2 seed, two No. 3 seeds, a No. 4 seed and a No. 7 seed.
 
The American has eight teams in last week’s ITA national computer rankings. Charlotte is No. 41, SMU is No. 45, Memphis is No. 47, South Florida is No. 59, Florida Atlantic is No. 63, Rice is No. 66, Wichita State is No. 68 and Tulane is No. 73 in the rankings of April 9. The updated rankings, which produced the seeds for this year’s American Championship, will be made public Tuesday.
 
 
 
2024 AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE WOMEN’S TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIP

April 17-21 | Styslinger/Altec Tennis Complex | Dallas, Texas