PEACHTREE CITY, Ga. - Appalachian State University women's tennis displayed a valiant effort against No. 2 seed Georgia State but fell in the quarterfinal round, 4-3, on Friday morning at the Peachtree Tennis Center.
App State ends the season with an 11-11 mark, which is a six-win improvement from 2017 and its first .500 season since 2013. The Black and Gold saw four all-conference selections and the first postseason conference tournament win since 2014. The turnaround for the Black and Gold is tied for the largest in the Sun Belt with Louisiana.Â
The Mountaineers gave the Panthers everything they could handle. After forfeiting doubles on Court No. 3, App needed just one doubles victory to take a 1-0 lead.Â
Heidi Swope and
María José Zacarias pulled through for a clutch 7-5 victory over Elizabet Danailove/Arina Taluyenko on Court No. 1.Â
With the Panthers having just five players, the Apps went into singles with a 2-0 advantage. Following an injury forfeit from GSU on Court No. 2 with
Teodora Sevo, Appalachian claimed a 3-0 lead.Â
However, the Panthers came back to win the next four singles matches with two of those matches going to three sets.
After the Panthers tied up the match, 3-3, Zacarias gave the Sun Belt's Player of the Year, Kristin Rehse all she could handle. After falling to Rehse in the first frame, Zacarias stormed back to in the second set to tie up the match, 6-3. The freshman had the senior on her heels with a 4-3 edge, but Rehse scored the final three points to clinch the match.
Zacarias is only the third player this season to take Georgia State's No. 1 to three sets, which was impressive as Rehse defeated three players from Power Five programs in the regular season.Â
Despite the setback, Appalachian will return three of its four all-conference selections this season and four of its six top wins leaders.Â
