By Ethan Bumgarner. ROME, Ga. — After an incredible run through the Sun Belt Tournament, App State Tennis fell 4-2 to No. 69-ranked Old Dominion in the championship match on Sunday.
The seventh-seeded Mountaineers (15-10) defeated James Madison, Marshall and Troy to become the lowest-seeded team to make a championship appearance since 2019.
App State started hot as it took two doubles wins to secure the point for an early 1-0 lead for the fourth straight time in tournament play. Savannah Dada-Mascoll and Ellie Murphy defeated Old Dominion’s No. 1 paring of Sofia Johnson and Lidiia Rasskouskaia 6-1. App State’s tandem won three deuce set points, providing enough momentum to win five straight games.
Naledi Manyube and Maggie Pate closed out doubles play with a 6-2 victory over Allison Isaacs and Kira Matushkina on court three. The Mountaineer duo won the first two games in the match and then closed out doubles play with three consecutive games to secure their third win in the tournament.
Dada-Mascoll defeated 116th-ranked Johnson 6-2, 6-2 She claimed the first set after jumping out to a 2-0 lead and never looking back.
In the second set, Dada-Mascoll sent a powerful forehand cross court after a high-arcing return from Johnson to go up 30-15 en route to her first game. After a tie at 1-1 Dada-Mascoll would then win four straight games, building a 5-1 lead as she would claim victory in the No. 1 singles rematch after the April 20 meeting.
Old Dominion (17-5), which went unbeaten against league teams in 2024 to earn the top seed in the tournament, won on singles courts two, four, five and six to claim its second consecutive Sun Belt Tournament title.
The 2023-24 tennis season is presented by Hound Ears Club.
(1) Old Dominion 4, (7) App State 2
Doubles
- Savannah Dada-Mascoll/Ellie Murphy (App) def. Sofia Johnson/Lidiia Rasskouskaia (ODU) 6-1
- Taya Powell/Olwyn Ryan-Bovey (App) vs Alexandra Viktorovich/Ulyana Romanova (ODU) 3-3 (unfinished)
- Naledi Manyube/Maggie Pate (App) def. Allison Isaacs/Kira Matushkina (ODU) 6-2
Singles
- Savannah Dada-Mascoll (App) def. 116 Sofia Johnson (ODU) 6-2, 6-2
- Alexandra Viktorovich (ODU) def. Taya Powell (App) 6-1, 6-2
- Olwyn Ryan-Bovey (App) vs Allison Isaacs (ODU) 1-6, 2-5 unfinished
- Lidiia Rasskouskaia (ODU) def. Maggie Pate (App) 7-5, 6-0
- Kira Matushkina (ODU) def. Naledi Manyube (App) 6-3, 6-0
- Ulyana Romanova (ODU) def. Ellie Murphy (App) 6-1, 6-4
