ROME, Ga. – App State and Old Dominion each won their matches in the Semifinals of the 2024 Sun Belt Conference Women’s Tennis Tournament at the Rome Tennis Center on Saturday.
The 2024 Regular Season Champions and No. 1 overall seed Old Dominion won its second straight 4-0 match over No. 4 seed South Alabama in the first semifinal matchup. No. 7 seed App State won the doubles point in a tiebreak set for the third time this tournament to defeat No. 3 seed Troy 4-1. The Monarchs advance to their second consecutive title match, while this marks the first appearance for the Mountaineers in program history.
Sunday’s Sun Belt Conference Women’s Tennis Tournament Championship is scheduled for a 1 p.m. ET start and will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
Match 11: (1) Old Dominion 4, (4) South Alabama 0
Box Score
In the lone ranked matchup of the tournament, No. 66 Old Dominion matched up with No. 74 South Alabama.
Doubles First Team All-Conference pairing Sofia Johnson and Lidiia Rasskouskaia won 6-1 on court one as Ulyana Romanova and Alexandra Viktorovich won 6-2 on court two. The Monarchs led 1-0 after the doubles point.
South Alabama finishes the season 16-5 after advancing to the semifinals.
Old Dominion used a trio of straight set victories to return to the title tilt. Sun Belt Newcomer of the Year and Player to Watch Lidiia Rasskouskaia won 6-3, 6-3 on court four as Alexandra Viktorovich won 6-2, 6-3 on court two.
Kira Matushkina provided the match point on court five by a 6-3, 6-3 decision to send the Monarchs to the championship bout for the second consecutive year.
Match 12: (7) App State 4, (3) Troy 1
Box Score
After splitting on the opening courts in doubles, the point was decided on court one. In another tiebreak win, the pairing of Savannah Dada-Mascoll and Ellie Murphy gave App State the 1-0 lead by a margin of 7-2.
Singles First Team All-Conference member Savannah Dada-Mascoll gave the Mountaineers a 2-0 lead on court one with a 6-0, 6-1 win.
Troy (16-7) answered on court six with a straight set win from Gabrielle Leslie 6-0, 6-3.
Leading 2-1, App State added to its lead on court three as Olwyn Ryan-Bovey used the 7-5 tiebreak win in set one to a 7-5 advantage in set two.
With the match point hanging in the balance, Maggie Pate provided the heroics for the second consecutive day with a 6-0 win in the third set on court four.
2024 Sun Belt Women’s Tennis Championship (Rome, Ga.)
First Round – Wednesday, April 24
Match 1 – (13) Southern Miss 4, (12) Arkansas State 3
Match 2 – (11) Louisiana 4, (14) ULM 0
Second Round – Thursday, April 25
Match 3 – (5) Coastal Carolina 4, (13) Southern Miss 0
Match 4 – (9) Georgia State 4, (8) Texas State 3
Match 5 – (6) Georgia Southern 4, (11) Louisiana 1
Match 6 – (7) App State 4, (10) James Madison 3
Quarterfinals - Friday, April 26
Match 7 – (4) South Alabama 4, (5) Coastal Carolina 0
Match 8 – (1) Old Dominion 4, (9) Georgia State 0
Match 9 – (3) Troy 4, (6) Georgia Southern 2
Match 10 – (7) App State 4, (2) Marshall 3
Semifinals - Saturday, April 27
Match 11 – (1) Old Dominion 4, (4) South Alabama 0
Match 12 – (7) App State 4, (3) Troy 1
Championship - Sunday, April 28
Match 13 – (1) Old Dominion vs. (7) App State – 1:00 p.m. ET