ROME, Ga. – Nineth seeded James Madison and tenth seeded Marshall each earned their spot in the 2026 Sun Belt Women’s Tennis Championship Quarterfinals via upset at the Rome Tennis Center at Berry College in the second round on Thursday.
James Madison and Marshall are joined by fifth seeded Texas State and sixth seeded App State as the teams moving on to the quarterfinals. The Dukes will face No. 1 seed Old Dominion at 10 a.m. as the Bobcats advance to face No. 4 seed Arkansas State at 10:30 a.m. The Thundering Herd match up with No. 2 seed South Alabama at 2 p.m. with the Mountaineers facing off with No. 3 seed Troy at 2:30 p.m. All four quarterfinal matches will be streamed live on ESPN+.
Match 2: (5) Texas State 4, (12) Georgia Southern 1
Box Score
Fifth seeded Texas State used the momentum from the doubles point to advance to Friday’s quarterfinal matches.
The Bobcats (14-7) started early in doubles as the team of Emily Niers and Ireland Simme won 6-1 on court one. Teammates Stoney Cooks and Charlotte Roesch followed suite shortly after on court two, winning 6-2 for the early 1-0 lead.
Tadiwa Mauchi was the first singles court to finish on line three by a 6-4, 6-3 margin. The remaining five courts went into a third set. Georgia Southern (9-13) won four first set points, however the Bobcats answered in the second set winning five of the six courts.
Georgia Southern’s Evelyn Warkentin was the next to finish on court one by a 7-6 (8), 0-6, 6-2 scoreline. Texas State’s Ireland Simme bounced back after losing the first set 6-2 to win 6-4, 6-2 on court two. The final point came from court four as Charlotte Roesch dropped the first set 6-4, but responded 7-5, 6-3 to win the match for the Bobcats, 4-1.
Match 3: (9) James Madison 4, (8) Coastal Carolina 0
Box Score
James Madison (12-10) used the swing from doubles into singles to advance to the quarterfinal round.
No. 8 seed Coastal Carolina (13-6) finished the first doubles court on line three with the duo of Sarah Clark and Diana Zuba earning the 6-1 win. The James Madison pairing of Brooklyn Hoffmann and Corinna Rietmann won 6-3 on court one to even the line. The Dukes duo of Daria Munteanu and Ariel Avidan won 7-5 to secure the early lead.
In the first set, there were three tie break sets locked at 6-6. The Dukes won all three tiebreaks on courts one, four and five to swing the momentum. Avidan finished first on court three by a 6-3, 6-3 scoreline as Hoffmann completed her match 7-6 (0), 6-0 on court four to put James Madison one point away.
Munteanu sealed the match on court one in straight sets 7-6(6), 6-3, for the early upset in the second round of play.
Match 4: (6) App State 4, (11) Southern Miss 1
Box Score
No. 11 seed Southern Miss (8-10) secured the early lead with the doubles point, however No. 6 seed App State (13-10) separated in singles to return to the quarterfinal round.
Mountaineer duo Savannah Dada-Mascoll and Ruby Broadbent won on court one 6-1 to start the doubles action. Southern Miss answered on court two as Hannah Chambers and Miranda Xu won 6-3 to level the score. The Golden Eagle duo of Kamornwan Kornsila and Pimmada Lim won the tiebreak 7-5 to give Southern Miss the early 1-0 lead.
Dada-Mascoll, who is currently ranked No. 14 nationally in singles, was the first to finish on court one by a 6-2, 6-1 scoreline. Teammate Allegra Hodson won 6-2, 6-0 on court four to give the Mountaineers the 2-1 advantage. Broadbent finished next on court five by a 6-2, 6-1 scoreline as Sreenidhi Balaji secured the match on court three 6-4, 6-3.
Match 5: (10) Marshall 4, (7) Louisiana 0
Box Score
No. 10 seed Marshall rolled through the doubles point and secured all but one set in singles to return to the quarterfinals after the 4-0 victory.
No. 7 seed Louisiana (13-6) led on the unfinished court two for doubles, however the Thundering Herd won 6-1 on court three and 6-2 on court one to secure the early lead. The No. 1 pairing of Alina Mokrynska and Johanna Strom improved their doubles record with the clinching point, as the duo of Polina Gumeniuk and Thalia Smith finished first on court three.
In singles, the Thundering Herd won and were leading on every court except for the first set on court four. Nour El Ouazzani was the first to finish on court five by a 6-0, 6-2 scoreline. Marshall extended its lead to 3-0 after Smith won 6-1, 6-2 on court six. Moments later, Gumeniuk secured the victory on court two with a decisive 6-4, 6-2 win to return the Thundering Herd to the quarterfinal round.
2026 Sun Belt Women’s Tennis Championship (Rome, Ga.)
First Round – Wednesday, April 22
Match 1 – (12) Georgia Southern 4, (13) Georgia State 1
Second Round - Thursday, April 23
Match 2 – (5) Texas State 4, (12) Georgia Southern 1
Match 3 – (9) James Madison 4, (8) Coastal Carolina 0
Match 4 – (6) App State 4, (11) Southern Miss 1
Match 5 – (10) Marshall 4, (7) Louisiana 0
Quarterfinals - Friday, April 24
Match 6 – (1) Old Dominion vs. (9) James Madison – 10:00 a.m. ET
Match 7 – (4) Arkansas State vs. (5) Texas State – 10:30 a.m. ET
Match 8 – (2) South Alabama vs. (10) Marshall – 2:00 p.m. ET
Match 9 – (3) Troy vs. (6) App State – 2:30 p.m. ET
Semifinals - Saturday, April 25
Match 10 – Winner Match 6 vs. Winner Match 7 – 1:00 p.m. ET*
Match 11 – Winner Match 8 vs. Winner Match 9 – 1:00 p.m. ET*
Championship - Sunday, April 26
Match 12 – Winner Match 10 vs. Winner Match 11 – 1:00 p.m. ET
*The highest remaining seed will play at 1:00 p.m. ET, and the other match will play at 1:30 p.m.