Wake Forest to Open 2023 Fall Season at Annual Debbie Southern Classic

Friday, September 15

Greenville, S.C.

Wake Forest University

Debbie Southern Fall Classic

Photo by: Seth Seebaugh

Wake Forest to Open 2023 Fall Season at Annual Debbie Southern Classic

9/14/2023 9:19:00 AM | Women's Tennis

Fall competition will get underway in Greenville for women’s tennis this weekend.

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The 2023 fall campaign officially gets going for Wake Forest women's tennis this weekend, as the Demon Deacons are set to partake in Furman University's 36th annual Debbie Southern Fall Classic (Sept. 15-17).

The Deacs have competed in the event within each of the last six seasons.

Wake Forest will be one of 14 programs on site – a field that also includes four other Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) member schools.

Field of Teams

Alabama
Auburn
Clemson
Duke
Furman
Georgia
Georgia Tech
Indiana
Mississippi State
NC State
Ohio State
South Carolina
Tennessee
Wake Forest

Event Format

Competition will start at 9 a.m. ET each day, featuring a structure of:

Friday (Sept. 15): two rounds of doubles, followed by one round of singles
Saturday (Sept. 16): one round of doubles, followed by one round of singles
Sunday (Sept. 17): one round of singles

Draws have been released and results will be updated here. Additionally, live streaming will be available on six select courts.

Meet the Crew

Wake Forest brings back seven members within its 10-player roster crew and is led by a senior trio of Mia Ahmad, Brooke Killingsworth, and Casie Wooten.

Mia Ahmad | Senior | Albertson, N.Y. | Herricks High School

Stepping up in a bigger role as a junior this past spring, Ahmad mainly teamed up with Wooten in the No. 2 doubles spot. The New York native recorded 12 total victories in doubles play during the spring, all happening alongside Wooten to ultimately tie for the second-most wins on the roster. The pair won eight completed showings in a row from Feb. 5 to March 5. Ahmad competed in five singles matches, all within the sixth spot, and won three. Off the courts, she impressed academically to secure accolades that included 2023 All-ACC Academic Team member, CSC Academic All-District selection, ITA Scholar Athlete and an ACC Academic Honor Roll pick.

Brooke Killingsworth | Senior | Rogers, Ark. | Laurel Springs School

Named to the 2023 All-ACC Second Team in Doubles, Killingsworth again acted as a reliable piece for the Deacons during her junior campaign. She was one of four Wake Forest players to reach double-figures in singles wins (11-11), mainly playing out of the No. 3 spot. Teamed with 2023 alum Anna Brylin for the third-straight year, the pair posted a 15-8 record while holding a top-25 national ranking throughout the spring and moving to fourth all-time in career wins as a tandem within program history. Killingsworth embraced a major moment in clinching the Round of 64 comeback win over No. 23 Arizona State through three sets in the NCAA tournament, as her Deacs trailed 3-1 at a midpoint in the match. The Rogers, Arkansas, native reached her 100th career combined win through singles and doubles during the same Arizona State outing. Later in the postseason, Killingsworth, along with Brylin, earned a bid to the 2023 NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships for the third consecutive season.

Casie Wooten | Senior | Torrance, Calif. | Chadwick School

Competing as the Deacons' No. 1 singles player in 2023, Wooten was tabbed to the All-ACC Third Team in Singles. She maintained the highest national singles ranking of any Wake Forest individual throughout the entire spring, standing as high as No. 27 in the ITA. Opening the spring in winning six of her first eight matches, Wooten collected seven wins over nationally-ranked opponents, the most of her college career up to date, in addition to 13 solo victories (third-best on the roster). Picking up 2023 Blue Gray Classic MVP honors after a stellar performance within the last week of February and finishing second on the team in conference solo wins, she went on to.earn an at-large bid to the 2023 NCAA Tennis Singles and Doubles Championships, partaking in the singles section for a first time.

Krystal Blanch, Nevena Carton, Jingyi Li and Whitley Pate compose a group of four in the Deacons' sophomore class. Blanch will be in action for the first time in her career this year after missing the 2022-23 campaign with an injury.

Nevena Carton | Sophomore | Locust, N.J. | IA Academy

As a freshman in 2022-23, Carton primarily performed at No. 4 in singles and No. 3 in doubles alongside fellow classmate Whitley Pate. Her 16 singles victories finished second-best on the roster, including a three-match win streak to cap off the spring. She impressively stepped up in a handful of big moments, which included clinching a second-round win in the ACC tournament over No. 8-seeded Notre Dame (April 20) and securing the championship victory at the 75th annual Blue Gray Classic with a three-set win over Texas Tech's Metka Komac. Carton went 12-8 overall in doubles with Pate, as the freshmen pairing won five of six showings from Feb. 25 to March 10.

Jingyi Li | Sophomore | Bradenton, Fla. | IMG Academy

Appearing in 14 matches during her first year, Li notched three wins apiece in singles and doubles action. She picked up her first collegiate solo win against Campbell (Feb. 5), dropping only two games in a two-set performance. Additionally, the Florida native followed that feat with a straight-sets victory over UNC Greensboro the next week (Feb. 11). Li teamed up with various Deacs in doubles, mostly alongside senior Maddie Lynch. Ultimately, she only let up one total game through each of her three doubles wins.

Whitley Pate | Sophomore | Daniel Island, S.C. | Randy Pate Tennis Academy

Pate battled through a few injuries to appear in 23 matches last spring, mainly holding down the No. 5 position in singles. She tallied nine wins, including one against No. 14 Tennessee in the NCAA Championships' Round of 64 (May 6). A major moment of hers involved delivering a key, straight-sets solo victory during the comeback over No. 8-seeded Notre Dame in the ACC Championships' second round (April 20). Pate won four of five matches during a two-week span from Feb. 11-25. Teaming up with Carton to form a strong doubles tandem, the duo tied for the second-best mark in wins (12) within the roster.

Newcomers involve Vanderbilt transfer Marcella Cruz and a freshmen pairing of Sankavi Gownder and Aubrey Nisbet.

A graduate student, Cruz attained a doubles ranking as high as No. 41 during her time at Vanderbilt, along with a nod to the 2021 SEC All-Newcomer Team. Gownder was a Blue Chip recruit in high school, while Nisbet holds multiple state championships and ITF doubles titles on her resume thus far.

A Year Ago …

On the first day of the 35th annual Debbie Southern Fall Classic (Sept. 16, 2022), Casie Wooten kicked off her weekend with a notable performance in taking down No. 5 Chloe Beck of Duke in a three-set singles showing. It was the highest ranked win of her collegiate career.

Wooten partnered with Whitley Pate in doubles, as the duo won matches over Holly Staff/Sonya Macavei (Vanderbilt) and Alexandra Mikhailuk/Maria Rizzolo (Mississippi State).

In their first collegiate matches, Nevena Carton and Jingyi Li each picked up a solo win.

Up Next

The 2023 edition of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) All-American Championships will next take place on Wake Forest's fall slate, scheduled for Sept. 30-Oct. 8 in Cary, N.C.

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