NORFOLK, Va. – The 66th ranked Old Dominion women's tennis team opens Sun Belt Conference Tournament play on Friday at 10 a.m. against ninth-seeded Georgia State in the quarterfinals at the Rome Tennis Center in Rome, Georgia.
Georgia State (10-13) advanced to the quarters after defeating eighth-seeded Texas State 4-3 on Thursday morning.
Old Dominion (14-5) didn't face the Panthers in the regular season. This will be the first matchup since both were members of the CAA as ODU won 6-1 in Norfolk on February 27, 2015. ODU holds a 4-3 lead in the all-time series.
The Monarchs swept all of the individual awards in the All-Sun Belt Conference announced on Tuesday. Junior Sofia Johnson was named Player of the Year along with earning first team doubles and singles honors, Lidiia Rasskouskaia earned Player to Watch and Newcomer of the Year while joining Johnson on first team doubles. Ulyana Romanova was named Freshman of the Year and head coach Dominic Manilla was named Coach of the Year. Graduate student Alexandra Viktorovitch joined the group earning first team honors in singles.
Rasskouskaia leads the Monarchs in the spring with a stellar 16-1 record splitting time between the No. 4 and No. 5 spots, while Romanova sports a 14-4 mark mainly at No. 6. Johnson is 12-3 this spring at No. 1 and Viktorovitch is 12-4 mainly at No. 2. In doubles, the duo of Johnson and Rasskouskaia are 12-4 at No. 1 and 7-0 in league play. ODU hasn't lost a regular-season match to a conference opponent since March 19, 2017 when Marshall defeated ODU 4-3, a span of 29 matches.
The winner of the match will take on the winner of #4 South Alabama and Coastal Carolina or Southern Miss at 1 p.m. Saturday in the semifinals.
2024 Sun Belt Conference Women's Tennis Tournament
Rome Tennis Center – Rome, Georgia
Wednesday, April 24
#13 Southern Miss 4, #12 Arkansas State 3
#11 Louisiana 4, #14 ULM 1
Thursday, April 25
#5 Coastal Carolina 4, #13 Southern Miss 0
#9 Georgia State 4, #8 Texas State 3
#6 Georgia Southern (17-5, 6-4) vs. #11 Louisiana (7-11), 2 p.m.
#7 App State (12-9, 6-5) vs. #10 James Madison (8-12, 4-6), 2 p.m.
Friday, April 26
#4 South Alabama (15-4, 8-2) vs. #5 Coastal Carolina (14-8)
#1 ODU (14-5, 10-0) vs. #9 Georgia State (10-13), 10 a.m.
#3 Troy (15-6, 9-2) vs. Georgia Southern/Louisiana winner, 2 p.m.
#2 Marshall (18-7, 9-2) vs. App State-JMU winner, 2 p.m.
Saturday, April 27
10 a.m. Friday winners, 1 p.m.
2 p.m. Friday winners, 1 p.m.
Sunday, April 28
Semifinal winners, 1 p.m.
Women's Tennis Opens Sun Belt Tournament Friday With Georgia State
