University of North Texas Athletics
Mean Green Tennis Riding Momentum Into Sun Belt Championships
4/22/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
DENTON (4/22/04) The North Texas women’s tennis team won four of its final six regular-season matches, including the last two in a row, to build momentum as it heads into the Sun Belt Conference Championships on Friday, April 23.
The Mean Green, currently 14-9 overall and 3-4 in Sun Belt Conference matches, will be the No. 7 seed in the tournament and face No. 10 Louisiana-Lafayette in the first round at 8 AM. If North Texas defeats the Ragin’ Cajuns, it will play nationally ranked Denver in its second-round match.
North Texas ’ 14 wins tie its most single-season victories in the last 18 seasons. The 2001-02 squad also won 14 matches under current head coach Dawna Prevette. With one victory the Mean Green can post its highest single-season victory total since the 1986-87 team won 15 matches as well. Two or more victories at the post-season tournament will give NT its fourth-best record in school history.
Prevette moved into third place on the all-time coaching victories list at North Texas this season, picking up her 45th win last week. She needs just 12 more wins to overtake Steve Buck (1984-87) for second place in the record books.
The Mean Green wrapped up the regular season with a 5-2 victory over Arkansas-Little Rock at Goldfield Tennis Center to finish 8-3 in its home matches. NT handed the Trojans just their fourth loss of the season and while UALR recently dropped out of the national rankings, it was the No. 72 team in the country as of March 30.
“The team is taking it’s momentum from the UALR match into the conference tournament,” said Prevette. “We are excited and ready for the challenges ahead. I am confident in our team.”
Arkansas-Little Rock was just one of several very strong opponents that were on the 2004 North Texas schedule. After tying the school-record for best start through 12 matches with a 9-3 record, which included victories over opponents such as UTEP, Colorado State and Arkansas State , the Mean Green played five nationally ranked opponents over its next seven matches.
While UT-Arlington wasn’t nationally ranked when North Texas played them last week, like UALR it was ranked at some point during the season. The Mean Green’s No. 1 singles player, Krysta Lee, picked up a win over the nation’s 97th ranked player and was named the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week on Wednesday (April 21) for her efforts.
Lee, who also defeated the Trojans No. 1 last week, has 11 flight-one victories. Those 11 wins tie the 12th most single-season victories in the top flight by a NT player in the programs 26-year history. She also teamed up with Katherine Harris as the duo won their 14th flight-one doubles match last week, which are the most on the team this season and the fourth most in school history by a flight-one duo.
Every Mean Green player that competes regularly in one of the top six flights has won at least 11 matches this season and all return for next year. Freshman Kelli Royer and sophomore Ingrid Stockinger both lead the team in singles victories with 16 each. Two other freshmen, Megan Schmulbach and Katherine Harris, have stepped up for NT and won 15 and 13 matches, respectively. Junior Ashley Sammis, North Texas ’ only returning player from last season, has won 11 matches this year and now has 46 career wins.
During spring play, NT has gone with the same doubles lineup in almost every match. Royer and Sammis hold a 9-9 record in flight two, while Holly Lee and Schmulbach are 10-7 in flight three.
North Texas ’ No. 7 seed in the Sun Belt Championships is its highest under Prevette and the Mean Green will try and use that to its advantage as it looks to improve on a ninth-place finish from last season.
The Sun Belt Conference Championships will be played April 23-25 in Mobile , Alabama.
