BOONE, N.C. — The No. 6-seeded App State tennis team will face No. 11 Southern Miss in the second round of the 2026 Sun Belt Championship at 2 p.m. Thursday. The match will be streamed live on ESPN+.
Last Time Out
The Mountaineers (12-10) closed the regular season with a weekend sweep, defeating James Madison in the home finale before downing Georgia State 4-2 in Atlanta.
No. 14
Savannah Dada-Mascoll extended her winning streak to 20 matches, earning two victories at No. 1 singles in the final week of her collegiate career. She rolled through James Madison on Senior Day with a dominant 6-2, 6-0 win before clinching the weekend with a three-set thriller, 6-1, 2-6, 6-3, against a two-time All-Sun Belt second team honoree.
Ruby Broadbent,
Alexi Cleveland, and
Taya Powell each went undefeated over the weekend, and all three enter the postseason on winning streaks of at least two matches.
Scouting the Mountaineers
Four-time Sun Belt Women's Tennis Player of the Week Dada-Mascoll leads App State with a 20-1 record at the top spot. Her only singles loss came in the season opener against then-No. 23 Ange Oby Kajuru, who is currently ranked No. 7.
App State enters the postseason with momentum, having won five straight matches to close the regular season. Broadbent has anchored the bottom of the lineup, winning her last four matches at the Nos. 5 and 6 spots to move to 9-10 on the year. Cleveland has also been crucial at Nos. 5 and 6, winning her last three matches in straight sets.
Third-year head coach
Hannah Fetters looks to replicate the success of her inaugural 2024 season, when she led the Mountaineers to the Sun Belt Championship final.
Scouting the Golden Eagles
Southern Miss (8-9) enters the tournament on a two-match losing streak after falling to UAB and Nicholls to end the regular season. The Mountaineers and Golden Eagles shared common opponents in Kennesaw State and Georgia Southern; App State won both matches, including a sweep of the Eagles, while Southern Miss was swept by Kennesaw State and narrowly defeated Georgia Southern 4-3.
The Golden Eagles are led by Miranda Xu, who is 8-4 this season at No. 4 singles. Angelina Blinova primary handles the No. 1 spot, where she is 4-7. Southern Miss is led by first-year head coach Piyanart Engineer.
Up Next
With a win, the Mountaineers would face Troy in the Sun Belt quarterfinals. That match is scheduled for Friday at 2:30 p.m. and will also stream on ESPN+.
