ROME, Ga. — In a match marked by multiple delays and a move indoors to finish play, the App State tennis team fell 4-3 to No. 10 seed Marshall on Saturday in the Sun Belt Championship semifinals.
In her final match for App State, No. 14
Savannah Dada-Mascoll capped her career with a three-set thriller at No. 1. After a thunderstorm postponed outdoor play, Dada-Mascoll finished the third set indoors to defeat Marshall's Johanna Strom, a three time All Sun Belt First Team honoree. Dada-Mascoll rallied after dropping the first set to win 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, extending her winning streak to 23 matches, with her only loss of the season coming in the season opener.
Ruby Broadbent closed the season with seven straight wins, also securing a three-set comeback victory, 3-6, 6-0, 6-1. Broadbent finished the year 12-10, maintaining a .500 or better record across the No. 4, No. 5, and No. 6 spots.
Allegra Hodson earned her fourth consecutive win with a straight sets victory over Nour El Ouazzani, 6-4, 6-4, at No. 5.
How It Happened
The Mountaineers (14-11) lost the doubles point in tightly contested matches at the top two spots. After falling in a tiebreaker at No. 2, App State surrendered the point despite a dominant performance at No. 3, where
Sreenidhi Balaji and Hodson won 6-3. The duo finished the season with a team best 10 wins as a tandem.
Trailing 1-0 entering singles play, App State and Marshall (15-10) traded wins, with Hodson's victory followed shortly by an App State loss at No. 2. Broadbent completed her comeback just before lightning forced the remaining matches featuring Balaji, Dada-Mascoll and
Taya Powell to move indoors.
After a Mountaineer loss at No. 3, the dual match rested on the final two courts. Dada-Mascoll prevailed, but Marshall clinched the semifinal victory after Balaji, who won her first set, lost a second set tiebreaker and ultimately fell in the third.
Results:
(Doubles)
Alina Mokrynska/Johanna Strom (MU) def.
Savannah Dada-Mascoll/
Ruby Broadbent (APP) | 6-4
Sarah Copley/Nour El Ouazzani (MU) def.
Naledi Manyube/
Taya Powell (APP) | 7-6 (7-5)
Sreenidhi Balaji/
Allegra Hodson (APP) def. Polina Gumeniuk/Thalia Smith (MU) | 6-3
(Singles)
#14
Savannah Dada-Mascoll (APP) def. Johanna Strom (MU) | 3-6, 6-4, 6-4
Polina Gumeniuk (MU) def.
Naledi Manyube (APP) | 6-2, 6-2
Alina Mokrynska (MU) def.
Taya Powell (APP) | 7-6 (7-5), 6-1
Sarah Copley (MU) def.
Sreenidhi Balaji (APP) | 4-6, 7-6 (10-8), 6-1
Allegra Hodson (APP) def. Nour El Ouazzani (MU) | 6-4, 6-4
Ruby Broadbent (APP) def. Thalia Smith (MU) | 3-6, 6-0, 6-1
