University of North Texas Athletics
Tennis Finalizes Competitive 2018-19 Schedule
8/10/2018 10:41:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Mean Green Set To Play Seven Schools That Were Ranked Last Season
DENTON – The North Texas women's tennis team and head coach Sujay Lama have finalized the 2018-19 schedule.
In the fall, the Mean Green will compete in the nation's biggest tournaments and qualifiers. Come the spring, they'll host 12 dual matches and welcome some of the country's top programs, such as Arizona, Kansas State and Tulsa.
"We are super excited about the upcoming schedule," Lama said. "We have a very experienced and hungry team coming back that wants to do some special things."
UNT returns all eight women from last season's team, including all-conference players Tamuna Kutubidze, Minying Liang and Maria Kononova who was also selected to the 2018 NCAA Individual Tournament this past May. In addition, Kononova was recently chosen to compete at the 2018 Oracle Intercollegiate Tennis Association Masters tournament in late September in Malibu, California.
Playing at home has been a huge advantage for the Mean Green during Lama's 12-year tenure at North Texas. In the 12 years, the Mean Green have had 11 winning seasons and beaten a power-five opponent every year at home.
Over the past eight years, Lama has led three Mean Green teams to a conference championship. A key to building towards that goal of winning a fourth is the strength of schedule.
"Our goal putting this schedule together was to give us an opportunity to build our confidence, be challenged and to prepare us to be in a position to win a conference championship and to play in the NCAA's," Lama explained. "I truly believe that if we can stay healthy and make improvements daily, we are capable of accomplishing all of our goals."
Last season the Mean Green overcame numerous injuries and obstacles and put together a nine-win season and reached the quarterfinals of the Conference USA tournament. They had impressive wins during the regular season over the University of South Florida, Iowa and eventual 2018 Sun Belt conference champion Georgia State.
In total, North Texas this year will play seven teams that finished last year ranked in the top 75, the highest being Tulsa who ended the regular season ranked No. 19. Tulsa travels to Denton on March 30.
Along with hosting Tulsa, UNT will welcome SMU and Old Dominion who were ranked last season.
The Mean Green will host five of its seven conference matches and will travel to TCU early in the spring season on Feb. 1.
COMPLETE 2018-19 SCHEDULE
SEPTEMBER
20-23 ITA Masters, Malibu, CA
21-23 Rice Invite, Houston, TX
29-30 All-American PQ, Malibu, CA
OCTOBER
1-3 All-American Q, Pacific Palisades, CA
4-7 All-American Q, Pacific Palisades, CA
18-22 ITA Regionals, College Station, TX
NOVEMBER
7-11 National Fall Champ, Surprise, AZ
9-11 UNLV Invite, Las Vegas, NV
JANUARY
15 vs. ACU, Denton, TX
19 Xavier, Iowa City, IA
20 at Iowa, Iowa City, IA
26 vs. Lamar, Denton, TX
FEBRUARY
1 at TCU, Ft. Worth, TX
2 vs. UTEP, Denton, TX
8 vs. S. Miss, Denton, TX^
10 vs. WKU, Denton TX^
15 vs. Arizona, Denton TX
17 vs. K-State, Denton, TX
22 vs. Northwestern St., Denton, TX
MARCH
2 Marshall, Miami, FL^
3 at FIU Miami, FL^
10 vs. LA Tech Denton, TX^
17 vs. ODU, Denton, TX^
24 at Wichita State, Wichita, KS
30 vs. Tulsa, Denton, TX
APRIL
3 at UTA, Arlington, TX
6 at Memphis, Memphis, TN
10 vs. SMU, Denton, TX
CONFERENCE USA CHAMPIONSHIP
April 18-21, Miami, FL.
NCAA TOURNAMENT
May 3-25, TBA
^C-USA Match
In the fall, the Mean Green will compete in the nation's biggest tournaments and qualifiers. Come the spring, they'll host 12 dual matches and welcome some of the country's top programs, such as Arizona, Kansas State and Tulsa.
"We are super excited about the upcoming schedule," Lama said. "We have a very experienced and hungry team coming back that wants to do some special things."
UNT returns all eight women from last season's team, including all-conference players Tamuna Kutubidze, Minying Liang and Maria Kononova who was also selected to the 2018 NCAA Individual Tournament this past May. In addition, Kononova was recently chosen to compete at the 2018 Oracle Intercollegiate Tennis Association Masters tournament in late September in Malibu, California.
Playing at home has been a huge advantage for the Mean Green during Lama's 12-year tenure at North Texas. In the 12 years, the Mean Green have had 11 winning seasons and beaten a power-five opponent every year at home.
Over the past eight years, Lama has led three Mean Green teams to a conference championship. A key to building towards that goal of winning a fourth is the strength of schedule.
"Our goal putting this schedule together was to give us an opportunity to build our confidence, be challenged and to prepare us to be in a position to win a conference championship and to play in the NCAA's," Lama explained. "I truly believe that if we can stay healthy and make improvements daily, we are capable of accomplishing all of our goals."
Last season the Mean Green overcame numerous injuries and obstacles and put together a nine-win season and reached the quarterfinals of the Conference USA tournament. They had impressive wins during the regular season over the University of South Florida, Iowa and eventual 2018 Sun Belt conference champion Georgia State.
In total, North Texas this year will play seven teams that finished last year ranked in the top 75, the highest being Tulsa who ended the regular season ranked No. 19. Tulsa travels to Denton on March 30.
Along with hosting Tulsa, UNT will welcome SMU and Old Dominion who were ranked last season.
The Mean Green will host five of its seven conference matches and will travel to TCU early in the spring season on Feb. 1.
COMPLETE 2018-19 SCHEDULE
SEPTEMBER
20-23 ITA Masters, Malibu, CA
21-23 Rice Invite, Houston, TX
29-30 All-American PQ, Malibu, CA
OCTOBER
1-3 All-American Q, Pacific Palisades, CA
4-7 All-American Q, Pacific Palisades, CA
18-22 ITA Regionals, College Station, TX
NOVEMBER
7-11 National Fall Champ, Surprise, AZ
9-11 UNLV Invite, Las Vegas, NV
JANUARY
15 vs. ACU, Denton, TX
19 Xavier, Iowa City, IA
20 at Iowa, Iowa City, IA
26 vs. Lamar, Denton, TX
FEBRUARY
1 at TCU, Ft. Worth, TX
2 vs. UTEP, Denton, TX
8 vs. S. Miss, Denton, TX^
10 vs. WKU, Denton TX^
15 vs. Arizona, Denton TX
17 vs. K-State, Denton, TX
22 vs. Northwestern St., Denton, TX
MARCH
2 Marshall, Miami, FL^
3 at FIU Miami, FL^
10 vs. LA Tech Denton, TX^
17 vs. ODU, Denton, TX^
24 at Wichita State, Wichita, KS
30 vs. Tulsa, Denton, TX
APRIL
3 at UTA, Arlington, TX
6 at Memphis, Memphis, TN
10 vs. SMU, Denton, TX
CONFERENCE USA CHAMPIONSHIP
April 18-21, Miami, FL.
NCAA TOURNAMENT
May 3-25, TBA
^C-USA Match
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