Georgia Southern University
Georgia State
Women's Tennis Advances At Sun Belt With 4-1 Win Over Georgia State
4/22/2026 2:29:00 PM | Women's Tennis
Eagles avenge a regular season loss to the Panthers; face Texas State on Thursday
ROME, Ga. - No. 12-seeded Georgia Southern women's tennis advanced to the second round of the 2026 Sun Belt Conference Championships with a 4-1 win over No. 13-seeded Georgia State on Wednesday morning at the Rome Tennis Center in Rome, Ga.
The Eagles (9-12) avenged a 4-0 loss to the Panthers (5-14) in Atlanta during the regular season and will now advance to face fifth-seeded Texas State in a 10 a.m. match on Thursday.
Georgia Southern claimed the doubles point thanks to a dominating 6-0 win by Franzi Heinemann and Nanaka Kijima at No. 3 doubles, then a 6-3 win by Angelina Mihajlovic and Evelyn Warkentin at No. 1 doubles.
The Eagles went up quickly in singles as the opponent of Amelie Rosadoro was disqualified following Rosadoro's 6-2 first-set win due to a code violation. Heinemann then delivered a 6-3, 6-2 win at No. 3 singles and Mihajlovic clinched the victory with a 6-3, 6-2 win at No. 2 singles.
"It's never easy to come back and beat a team that you lost to 4-0 earlier in the season," Georgia Southern head women's tennis coach Sean McCaffrey said. "But our Eagles did just that. They really had a huge amount of energy today and you could tell how very much they wanted this match. Doubles was really exciting. Nana and Franzi were close to perfect, which rarely happens in doubles. But they controlled their match from start to finish. Evy and Angelina did a good job pulling away from their opponents after they tied up at 3-3. I was really proud of how they overcame some early match jitters.
"Taking five first sets in singles was just what we needed," McCaffrey said. "When we played Georgia State early on in the season, we came out flat in singles. Today we turned that around and did a fantastic job of controlling play and applying scoreboard pressure all the way through. It looked like we were poised to pick up Mac and Nana singles matches and I loved how they were showing so much energy throughout their matches. Amelie was looking strong early and stayed disciplined throughout her match. Franzi has so much heart and fight and she did a great job closing out her match. Angelina had a wonderful day. She battled some early set nerves in both the 1st and 2nd sets but did a fantastic job staying calm and believing in her shots ... today definitely belonged to Angelina!"
Georgia Southern 4, Georgia State 1
Results
Singles
1. Maria Paredes (GSU) def. Evelyn Warkentin (GS) 6-1, 6-0
2. Angelina Mihajlovic (GS) def. Sara Radojevic (GSU) 6-3, 6-2
3. Franzi Heinemann (GS) def. Zeynep Erbakan (GSU) 6-3, 6-2
4. Amelie Rosadoro (GS) def. Sveva Bernardi (GSU) 6-2, default
5. Nanaka Kijima (GS) led Lamiss Haouas (GSU) 6-4, 4-4, unfinished
6. Mackenzie Leopold (GS) led Mia Petrovic (GSU) 7-5, 2-1, unfinished
Doubles
1. Angelina Mihajlovic/Evelyn Warkentin (GS) def. Zeynep Erbakan/Maria Paredes (GSU) 6-3
2. Sveva Bernardi/Sara Radojevic (GSU) def. Mackenzie Leopold/Lisen Rinman (GS) 6-2
3. Nanaka Kijima/Franzi Heinemann (GS) def. Lamiss Haouas/Mia Petrovic (GSU) 6-0
Order of Finish
Singles: 4, 1, 3, 2
Doubles: 3, 2, 1
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
2,3,1
#1 Singles Match
#2 Singles Match
#3 Singles Match
#4 Singles Match
#5 Singles Match
#6 Singles Match
Order of Finish:
1,4,3,2
Players Mentioned
