NEW ORLEANS – No. 1 seed Georgia State took the Sun Belt Conference Women’s Tennis Championship 4-1 over the No. 3 seed South Alabama on Sunday afternoon at the City Park Tennis Center.
No. 66-ranked Georgia State (12-8) clinched the win at the No. 3 singles position thanks to Linn Timmermann. Timmerman lost the first set 3-6, before fighting back to take the second set 6-1. The third set started with South Alabama junior Emily Newton winning two straight games but Timmermann responded with two games of her own. After each player held serve the score was locked at 3-3. Timmermann forced deuce in the seventh game after trailing 15-40 in the game. Newton responded by earning advantage, however Timmermann secured the next three points to break Newton’s serve. She then went on to win the next two games to clinch the match for the Panthers.
Georgia State started the match by winning the doubles point thanks to victories by the No. 20 and No. 95-ranked doubles pairs in the country. Senior Abigail Tere-Apisah and junior Masa Grgan defeated Newton and freshman Laura Matuskova 8-1 while the freshmen duo of Marcia Tere-Apisah and Tarani Kamoe defeated sophomore Michaela Meszarosova and freshman Monica Mitta 8-6. Valkova and Paula Sanchez won the South Alabama doubles point at the No.3 position, 8-5.
Abigail Tere-Apsiah continued her dominance in her singles match at the no. 1 position. She dropped the first game to Meszarosova 1-0, but followed by winning the next 12 games to claim a 6-1, 6-0 victory.
Her younger sister, Marcia Tere-Apisah took the victory at the no. 4 singles position as she started by winning the first four games on her way to a 6-3, 6-3 win.
South Alabama notched its only win of the match thanks to Valkova at the No. 2 position. Valkova jumped ahead 4-0, but her opponent junior Masa Grgan took four of the next five games. However, Valkova broke Grgan’s serve to take the first set 6-4. Valkova then took the second set 6-3.
The win gave Georgia State its first Sun Belt Conference Women’s Tennis Championship in school history. The program reached the finals last year but fell 4-2. It is the fourth-consecutive conference championship match the team has reached.
#1 Georgia State 4, #3 South Alabama 1
Singles competition
1. #20 Abigail Tere-Apisah (GSU-W) def. Michaela Meszarosova (USA-W) 6-1, 6-0
2. Laura Valkova (USA-W) def. Masa Grgan (GSU-W) 6-4, 6-3
3. Linn Timmermann* (GSU-W) def. Emily Newton (USA-W) 3-6, 6-1, 6-3
4. Marcia Tere-Apisah (GSU-W) def. Monica Mitta (USA-W) 6-3, 6-3
5. Maryna Kozachenko (GSU-W) vs. Mary Angela Martin (USA-W) 2-6, 7-5, unfinished
6. Chaimaa Roudami (GSU-W) vs. Paula Sanchez (USA-W) 7-5, 5-5, unfinished
Doubles competition
1#20 Abigail Tere-Apisah/Masa Grgan (GSU-W) def. Emily Newton/Laura Maduskova (USA-W) 8-1
2. #95 Marcia Tere-Apisah/Tarani Kamoe (GSU-W) def. Michaela Meszarosova/Monica Mitta (USA-W) 8-6
3. Laura Valkova/Paula Sanchez (USA-W) def. Linn Timmermann/Chaimaa Roudami (GSU-W) 8-5
Match Notes:
#1 Georgia State (12-8)
#3 South Alabama (16-3)
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (1,4,2,3)
T-3:31 A-75