Demon Deacons Defeat App State to Close Non-Conference Play

Sunday, February 22

Winston-Salem, N.C.

10 A.M.

Wake Forest University

App State

Photo by: Keion Robinson / Wake Forest Athletics

Demon Deacons Defeat App State to Close Non-Conference Play

2/22/2026 2:20:00 PM | Women's Tennis

Box Score

Wake Forest overcame an early deficit to beat the Mountaineers on Sunday.

By: Joseph Baker

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Wake Forest women's tennis (7-4) completed non-conference play on Sunday with a 4-2 comeback win over App State (3-5). With the win, the Demon Deacons improve to 7-1 at home; only two ACC schools have more home wins than the Deacs this season.

After App State jumped out to an early 2-0 lead, the Deacs quickly responded in singles. Krystal Blanch got the ball rolling with a straight-set victory to give Wake Forest its first point. Evie Oxford and Sankavi Gownder both picked up their eighth singles win of the season; their eight wins are tied for the most on the team. It was Heidi Bulger who clinched the match for the Old Gold & Black, defeating Ruby Broadbent in front of a lively crowd to wrap things up.

Wake Forest will take its 7-4 record out west to open ACC play. The Deacs will visit the Golden State next weekend, battling No. 18 Stanford on Friday (Feb. 27) and No. 12 Cal on Sunday (March 1). The Demon Deacons will be looking to exact revenge after falling to both the Cardinal and the Golden Bears last season.

Doubles Results

1. Savannah Dada-Mascoll/Taya Powell (APP) def. Nevena Carton/Krystal Blanch (WFU), 6-3
2. Evie Oxford/Sankavi Gownder (WFU) def. Ruby Broadbent/Naledi Manyube (APP), 6-3
3. Sreenidhi Balaji/Allegra Hodson (APP) def. Heidi Bulger/Aubrey Nisbet (WFU), 6-4

Order of finish: 2, 1, 3

Singles Results

1. No. 9 Savannah Dada-Mascoll (APP) def. Nevena Carton (WFU), 6-1, 6-3
2. Krystal Blanch (WFU) def. Naledi Manyube (APP), 7-5, 6-1
3. Heidi Bulger (WFU) def. Allegra Hodson (APP), 6-2, 7-5
4. Evie Oxford (WFU) def. Taya Powell (APP), 6-1, 6-4
5. Sankavi Gownder (WFU) def. Ruby Broadbent (APP), 6-2, 6-3
6. Sreenidhi Balaji (APP) vs. Aubrey Nisbet (WFU), 6-1, 2-6, 3-2 (unfinished)

Order of finish: 1, 2, 4, 5, 3

How It Happened

App State took a lead on all three doubles courts early.
Oxford/Gownder fought back to take a commanding lead on court two.
- They clinched, giving Wake Forest the early advantage.
Dada-Mascoll/Powell beat Carton/Blanch immediately after, tying the doubles session at one apiece.
Bulger and Nisbet fell, 6-4, to Balaji/Hodson in the deciding match.
- App State took a 1-0 lead after doubles.
Wake Forest got out to a strong start in singles; four of the first six sets were won by Demon Deacons.
No. 9 Dada-Mascoll earned the first singles victory of the day, beating Carton in straight sets.
- App State took a 2-0 lead.
Blanch, Oxford and Gownder all won in straight sets to catapult Wake Forest in front.
Bulger clinched the match with a win over Hodson on court three.
- Wake Forest won, 4-2.

From Coach Wyshner
"Really good match today. App State has a very good team with a number one who is top 10 in the country, so losing the doubles point put a lot of pressure on us. I'm so proud of how we handled it. We battled in all 6 singles spots. Sankavi keeps giving us a spot that her teammates can rely on, which helps a lot with the pressure. Krystal came up huge in the first set despite being down 4-5. Truly every spot did good work. It's tough playing when 33% of your team is unavailable, but those healthy enough to go keep showing up and I'm really proud of them! Go Deacs!"

Up Next
A west-coast trip awaits the Old Gold & Black, as the Deacs will take on Stanford and Cal next weekend. They will play the Cardinal on Friday, Feb. 27 at 4:30 p.m. and the Golden Bears on Sunday, March 1 at 3 p.m.