PEACHTREE CITY, Ga. - Freshman Ninon Martinache fought off eight match points and No. 4-seeded Georgia Southern women's tennis overcame a 3-0 deficit to upend No. 5 seed Appalachian State, 4-3, in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament quarterfinals on Friday afternoon in Peachtree City, Ga.

The Eagles (19-5) tie the school record for single-season wins, set during the 2021 campaign, and now turn their attention to top-seeded and No. 33-ranked Old Dominion in Saturday's semifinal at 10 AM. ODU defeated No. 9 seed Texas State, 4-0, in its quarterfinal match Friday morning.

App State collected the doubles point to start the match by winning at No. 1 and No. 2 doubles. The Eagles did notch a win at No. 3 doubles as Ninon Martinache and Nanaka Kijima defeated Virginia Poggi and Maggie Pate, 6-3.

In singles, the Mountaineers took the first sets in four of the six singles matches. And with wins at No. 4 and No. 6 singles, App State was just one point away from claiming the match.

Kijima got the Eagles' first point with a 7-5, 6-3 win over Pate at No. 3 singles, and all three remaining matches on the court needed to be pushed to three sets for Georgia Southern to claim the win.

Martinache dropped the first set to Poggi at No. 5 singles in a tiebreaker, then trailed late in the second set. But the Dunkirk, France, native rallied from a 3-5, 40-0 deficit and at one point won 11 straight points en route to claiming the second set, 7-6 (4).

Ana Tsitavets wrapped up the second point for the Eagles with a 6-3, 4-6, 6-0 win at No. 2 singles over Savannah Dada-Mascoll while Martinache was winning her second set of action. And Silvia Martinez rallied from a third-set deficit to knock off Helena Jansen, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, at No. 1 singles to set up the final set for the match.

Martinache quickly jumped out to a 4-0 lead, and picked up a crucial service hold trailing 0-40, to eventually win the third set by a 6-0 score and send the Eagles into the semifinals.

"This was one for the ages," Georgia Southern Head Women's Tennis Coach Sean McCaffrey said. "We felt we were so close in doubles, and seeing Nanaka go in for Lindsay in dubs was a pleasant surprise to pick up that win. We had a few points we wish we had back, but doubles is always the great equalizer. Sometimes it goes your way and other times, not.

"But the resiliency being down 3-0 and losing a number of first sets could have forced our ladies to call it a season. I think at this point, however, we all know better than that. Georgia Southern Tennis is about being relentless. We can start with Nanaka winning her match in straight sets to give us a small bit of hope. Once she came off we, heard her voice and it gave the team a little bit of a push. Ana was lights out in her 1st and 2nd sets against the Sun Belt Freshman of the Year. Winning 6-0 in the 3rd was her showing why she is going to be one unbelievable college tennis player! 

"Silvia did a great job of finding a way to not only push her match to three sets, but doing it while constantly playing catch up in both the 2nd and 3rd. A late 3rd set break, along with some very fearless point play was exactly what she needed. And then Ninon. Another "freshie". When Nanaka, Ana, and Ninon can step up in such a big way, as freshman, being able to show that Eagle relentless attitude, that's something special. I could not be more proud of Ninon. She was down a set, 3-5, and 40-0 in the 2nd. Somehow she strung along enough points to force a tiebreak. That's really all she needed to do. After that her adrenaline and her believe kicked in. That's a dangerous mix for that woman. Having both Ana and Ninon win 6-0 sets is a testament to how mentally tough we are. That's been our focus all year. And we have improved so very much. Now we rest and recover. We have another one tomorrow."

Results
Singles
Silvia Martinez (GS) def. Helena Jansen (APP) 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
Ana Tsitavets (GS) def. Savannah Dada-Mascoll (APP) 6-3, 4-6, 6-0
Nanaka Kijima (GS) def. Maggie Pate (APP) 7-5, 6-3
Erika Dodridge (APP) def. Lindsay Tulenko (GS) 6-3, retired
Ninon Martinache (GS) def. Virginia Poggi (APP) 6-7 (4), 7-6 (4), 6-0
Olwyn Ryan-Bovey (APP) def. Paula Hijos (GS) 6-3, 6-2

Doubles
Savannah Dada-Mascoll/Ellie Murphy (APP) def. Silvia Martinez/Liv Ryan (GS) 6-3
Erika Dodridge/Helena Jansen (APP) def. Sonja Keranen/Ana Tsitavets (GS) 6-4
Nanaka Kijima/Ninon Martinache (GS) def. Maggie Pate/Virginia Poggi (APP) 6-3