Herd Tennis Heads to SBC Championship with 4-3 Win Over App State

Championship Fund

ROME, Ga. – After the match being pushed back three hours and moving indoors, the seventh-seeded Marshall University Tennis team (15-10) battled out a 4-3 win over sixth-seeded App State to advance to the 2026 Sun Belt Conference Championship match.

The win sends the Herd to its second straight SBC Championship appearance.

Sarah Copley battled back after dropping her first set, grinded out a second-set tiebreak and won her third set at number four singles to seal the match.

"They are doing an awesome job. All competing so hard for each other. Just having fun!" Herd Tennis Head Coach John Mercer said.

MU captured its third consecutive doubles point. The Mountaineers took number three, but Johanna Strom and Alina Mokrynska tied doubles at 1-1 with a 6-4 win over Savannah Dada-Mascoll at number one.

Nour El Ouazzani and Copley then took their contest at number two without dropping a point in a tiebreak over Naledi Manyube and Taya Powell.

App State tied the match 1-1 with a win at number five singles, Polina Gumenuik gave the Herd a 2-1 lead with a straight sets 6-2, 6-2, triumph over Manyube at number two.

The Mountaineers then took number six, but Mokrynska answered for Marshall with a 7-6 (5), 6-1, win at number three over Sreenidhi Balaji to make it 3-2.

After an App State win at number one, it left Copley at number four with the match even at 3-3. The freshman fell 6-4 in the opening set, but fought back with a tiebreak win in the second and took that momentum into the third set dropping just one game to seal the contest 6-1 in the third.

RESULTS
Doubles
No. 1 Johanna Strom/Alina Mokrynska (MU) def. Savannah Dada-Mascoll/Ruby Broadbent (APP) 6-4
No. 2 Nour El Ouazzani/Sarah Copley (MU) def. Naledi Manyube/Taya Powell (APP) 7-6 (0)
No. 3 Allegra Hodson/Sreenidhi Balaji (APP) def. Thalia Smith/Polina Gumeniuk (MU)
Order of finish: 3, 1, 2

Singles
No. 1 No. 14 Savannah Dada-Mascoll def. Johanna Strom (MU) 3-6, 6-4, 6-4
No. 2 Polina Gumeniuk (MU) def. Naledi Manyube (APP) 6-2, 6-2
No. 3 Alina Mokrynska (MU) def. Taya Powell (APP) 7-6 (5), 6-1
No. 4 Sarah Copley (MU) def. Sreenidhi Balaji (APP) 4-6, 7-6 (8), 6-1
No. 5 Allegra Hodson (APP) def. Nour El Ouazzani (MU) 6-4, 6-4
No. 6 Ruby Broadbent (APP) def. Thalia Smith (MU) 3-6, 6-0, 6-1
Order of finish: 5, 2, 6, 3, 1, 4

UP NEXT
Marshall has a rematch with the Old Dominion Monarchs from the 2025 SBC Championship on Sunday at 1 p.m. in Rome, Georgia.

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Herd Tennis Heads to SBC Championship with 4-3 Win Over App State

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Team Stats

Players Mentioned

Sarah Copley

Nour El Ouazzani

Polina Gumeniuk

Alina Mokrynska

Thalia Smith

Johanna Strom

Marshall University Athletics