By Ethan Bumgarner. ROME, Ga. – For the first time in school history, App State Tennis has advanced to the conference championship match after defeating Troy 4-1 in Saturday’s Sun Belt Conference tournament semifinals.
The seventh-seeded Mountaineers (15-9) will face No. 1 seed Old Dominion on Sunday.
“This team is incredible,” said Head Coach Hannah Fetters. “They have showed up with incredible energy, discipline and mental toughness which is why we have made it to the finals of the tournament. We aren’t done yet!”
Maggie Pate elevated the Mountaineers to the championship match when she defeated Troy’s Valeriia Avdeeva in three sets, sweeping her opponent 6-0 in the third set to clinch the match against the third-seeded Trojans (15-6).
After falling in the second set, the Floridian went up 5-0 in the third and broke a 15-all tie on court four, scoring three straight points and ending the match with a powerful backhand down the line. Pate accepted her teammates with open arms when they rushed her in pure excitement as they made program history.
Savannah Dada-Mascoll won 6-0, 6-1 against Kristina Kukaras on court one, finishing first among the six singles matches and powering the Mountaineers to a 2-0 lead early into singles play. Olwyn Ryan-Bovey won on court three against Maria Guirguis in multiple tiebreakers, 7-6 [7-5], 7-5, just before Pate closed out the match.
For the second straight day, Dada-Mascoll and Ellie Murphy clinched the doubles point for App State in a tiebreaker at 6-all. The Mountaineers’ duo gave up two points in the tiebreaker with Troy’s top pairing of Guirguis and Avdeeva. Dada-Mascoll secured match-point by placing the ball in the upper quadrant of the court out of reach of both Trojans to give App State its third straight doubles win in the tournament.
Pate and Naledi Manyube finished first in doubles as the tandem swept Hagar Ramadan and Leena Metwally 6-0 for their second win together in the tournament.
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App State will face Old Dominion in its first-ever conference championship match. In their previous matchup last week, the Monarchs defeated the Mountaineers 6-1 on Senior Day in Boone.
The championship match is set for a 1 p.m. start time and will be streamed on ESPN+. Live stats will be available on appstatesports.com along with the ESPN+ link.
(7) App State 4, (3) Troy 1
Doubles
- Savannah Dada-Mascoll/Ellie Murphy (App) def. Maria Guirguis/Valeriia Avdeeva (Troy) 7-6 [7-2]
- Kristina Kurkaras/Emilia Namyslo (Troy) def. Taya Powell/Olwyn Ryan-Bovey (App) 6-2
- Naledi Manyube/Maggie Pate (App) def. Hager Ramadan/Leena Metwally (Troy) 6-0
Singles
- Savannah Dada-Mascoll (App) def. Kristina Kukaras (Troy) 6-0, 6-1
- Taya Powell (App) vs. Hager Ramadan (Troy) 6-0, 5-7, 3-5 unfinished
- Olwyn Ryan-Bovey (App) def. Maria Guirguis (Troy) 7-6 [7-5], 7-5
- Maggie Pate (App) def. Valeriia Avdeeva (Troy) 6-3, 5-7, 6-0
- Naledi Manyube (App) vs. Leena Metwally (Troy) 6-7 [7-9], 6-0, 4-4 unfinished
- Gabrielle Leslie (Troy) def. Ellie Murphy (App) 6-0, 6-3
