PEACHTREE CITY, Ga. – App State, Coastal Carolina, Georgia Southern, Marshall, South Alabama and Texas State battled through the first round of the 2023 Sun Belt Conference Women’s Tennis Championship at the Peachtree City Tennis Center. Each team secured a spot in the event’s quarterfinal round to be contested on Thursday.
Thursday’s action featured one upset in which ninth-seeded Texas State swept eighth-seeded Troy 4-0. All six teams that won the doubles point, went on to win the match on day one.
The first quarterfinal matchup will feature fourth-seeded Georgia Southern against fifth-seeded App State at 10 a.m. EST. Top-seeded Old Dominion will face the ninth-seeded Texas State also at 10 a.m. EST. The matches will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
Match 1: (4) Georgia Southern 4, (13) Southern Miss 0
Box Score
Fourth-seeded Georgia Southern won early and often over 13-seeded Southern Miss in the first match of the day.
Southern Miss (7-12) won on doubles court three, 6-4, as the pair of Sze Zuan Lim and Suhana Das were victorious. Maddison Ricardo and Hannah Chambers were each able to win a set on their courts as the matches went unfinished.
Georgia Southern (18-5) started the match earning the doubles point as the First Team All-Conference pairing of Liv Ryan and Silvia Martinez won 6-1. The point came down to court two, where Ana Tsitavets and Sonja Keranen won 6-4 to give the Eagles the 1-0 lead.
The The Eagles finished the match on the first three singles courts, as the two Singles All-Conference performers in Silvia Martinez and Ana Tsitavets won their matches in straight sets. Nanaka Kijima also won her match in straight sets, as Martinez provided the match-winning point on court one.
Match 2: (5) App State 4, (12) Georgia State 1
Box Score
Fifth-seeded App State defeated twelfth-seeded Georgia State 4-1 in the second matchup of the afternoon before the rain delay.
Georgia State (2-19) picked up a point in the match on court one. The Panthers would be the lone team to earn a point on a singles court without the victory.
App State (13-7) earned the early 1-0 lead with wins on courts one and three in doubles. Ellie Murphy and Savannah Dada Mascoll won on court one 6-3 with Virginia Poggi and Maggie Pate earning the default win on court three.
Olwyn Ryan-Bovey secured an early point on court six with no opponent as Erika Dodridge won 6-1, 6-1 on court four to put App State ahead 3-0. Following the panther point, Poggi sealed the match 6-3, 6-3 on court five.
Match 3: (9) Texas State 4, (8) Troy 0
Box Score
After a brief rain delay, Texas State overcame the weather to defeat Troy 4-0.
Troy (13-8) earned the first doubles win on court one as Amin and Kukaras won 6-0. Troy won two singles sets in the match.
Texas State (8-14) won the doubles point with a 6-2 win on court three from Chan and Niers, as the pairing of Fortuno and Lora won the tiebreak 7-6 (8-6) to give the Bobcats the early 1-0 lead.
The Bobcats jumped out to an early 3-0 advantage with a pair of singles wins. Pineda won on court four 6-1, 6-3 as Fortuno finished just behind her on court five 6-0, 6-3. Malazonia sealed the match despite losing the first set 6-3, she responded to win 6-3, 6-2 for the 4-0 scoreline.
Match 4: (3) Coastal Carolina 4, (14) Arkansas State 0
Box Score
Third-seeded Coastal Carolina did not lose a set in the 4-0 sweep over fourteenth seeded Arkansas State.
Arkansas State finished the season at 2-18.
Coastal Carolina (17-7) earned the doubles point with 6-2 and 6-1 victories on courts two and three and lead 5-1 on court one. Babayan and Foldeak won first on court three, as De Samucewicz and Hollins secured the point on court two.
Hollins won the first match on singles court four 6-1, 6-1 as Babayan won on court two 6-3, 6-0. Burger secured the match shortly after 6-3, 6-2 for the 4-0 Chanticleer victory.
Coastal Carolina is slated to face Marshall on Thursday in match nine at 2:00 p.m. ET.
Match 5: (6) Marshall 4, (11) ULM 0
Box Score
Sixth-seeded Marshall forced third sets and won every tiebreak point to defeat eleventh-seeded ULM 4-0.
ULM finished the season 5-18. The Warhawks won three individual singles sets during the match as three of the six doubles matches went to three sets.
Marshall (15-8) earned the doubles point as Hurrion and McGrane won early on court two 6-1. Clairotte and Gillar won the 7-6 tiebreak 7-3 to give the Thundering Herd the early 1-0 lead. Strom and Vanderheyden led 2-0 in the 6-6 tiebreak on court one.
In a back and forth battle, Joksovic (6-3, 6-1) won on court three as teammate McGrane won 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 on court four to put the Herd ahead 3-0. Court six provided the match point for Marshall as Hurrion won the first and last sets 6-1, 6-3.
Match 6: (7) South Alabama 5, (10) Louisiana 0
Box Score
In the final match of the opening day, seventh-seeded South Alabama used the momentum from the doubles point to sweep Louisiana 5-0.
Louisiana finished the year 8-12 as the Ragin Cajuns won on court one in doubles 6-4 with the pairing of Berrat and Urchoeguia.
South Alabama (18-5) rallied in doubles as Zeghlouli and Aoki won the first doubles match on court three 6-2. After being tied one court each, Pool, and Novotna on court two responded to win 7-5 and earn the doubles point for the Jaguars.
The Jaguars led in all but one set in singles and did not lose a set in the victory. Dejnozkova on court four finished first 6-2, 6-0 as Kleinhans finished shortly after with the same score line. Zeghlouli and Novotna finished at the same time on courts five and three 6-1, 6-2 to send the Jaguars to the Quarterfinals.
South Alabama will face second-seeded James Madison on Thursday at 2 p.m. ET.