App State women’s tennis found itself all over the Appalachian Mountains Friday and Saturday as it faced off against the Marshall University Thundering Herd in Boone before heading to Johnson City, Tennessee to face off against the East Tennessee State University Buccaneers. The team dropped its Friday matchup 5-2 against Marshall but defeated ETSU 4-3 Saturday.
Over the weekend, senior No. 9 Savannah Dada-Mascoll and sophomore Alexi Cleveland finished undefeated on the singles side. The win for the All-American moves her singles winning streak to 14, while Cleveland improves her record to 3-6 in the final stretch of the season.
On the doubles side, the tandem of junior Naledi Manyube and sophomore Ruby Broadbent went 2-0 in both of their doubles matches. The team has won 3 of their last 4 finished doubles and has now become the team’s best duo record-wise with a 6-3 mark.
The start of the weekend was not kind as the Thundering Herd stomped the Mountaineers in their matchup. Just 3 wins across 9 matchups is less than ideal for a team looking to continue good form after a decent showing against a top-100 team in the University of North Florida.
The only winners in the Sun Belt Conference opener were Broadbent, Cleveland, Dada-Mascoll and Manyube.
The matchup against the Buccaneers a day later saw the team go the distance again in a 4-3 matchup. Manyube’s win at the No. 2 spot clinched the win for App State.
The win against ETSU is the sixth time this season the team has seen its matchup go into the final match and the third of the last five. The Mountaineers are 2-4 in those matches.
App State women’s tennis now faces a long road trip as it heads to Greenville to face off against the East Carolina University Pirates Friday before traveling to Norfolk, Virginia Saturday for a matchup with Old Dominion University. The head-to-head against the Pirates begins at 11 a.m., while the match with the Monarchs will begin at 10 a.m.
