App State tennis traveled to Blacksburg, Virginia to take on Virginia Tech and fell 2-5 in its matchup against the Hokies. Virginia Tech started the match with an early advantage by capturing the doubles point. The Hokies won 2 of the 3 doubles matches and took a 1-0 lead heading into the singles matches. While App State battled through the match, Virginia Tech’s strong start in the doubles gave the Hokies momentum that carried into the singles. 

During singles, App State earned 2 strong victories. No. 1 seed, senior Savannah Dada-Mascoll beat Özlem Uslu in 3 sets, 6-3, 1-6 and 7-5. Dada-Mascoll’s performance stood out as she recovered after dropping the second set and closed out the final set in a tight finish. The Mountaineers collected their second point when freshman Allegra Hodson earned victories over Mila Mulready, 6-3 and 6-2, for seed No. 5. These wins helped App State avoid a shutout.

Virginia Tech ended up securing the match against App State after winning 4 singles matches. Laima Frosch defeated junior Taya Powell by 6-1 and 6-3 in seed No. 2. Arina Gamretkaia won singles match No. 3 6-2 and 7-5 over junior Naledi Manyube. During singles match No. 4, Elizaveta Castillo defeated sophomore Ruby Broadbent in 2-straight sets, 6-3 and 6-2. With those wins, Virginia Tech clinched the dual match for a final score of 5-2. 

App State will continue to fight for its first win of the spring season as it hosts UNC-Asheville in its first home match Jan. 30 at 3 p.m.