University of North Texas Athletics
Friday, November 8
Northridge, CA
University of North Texas
vs
Cal State Northridge Fall Invite
Photo by: Mark Woods
North Texas Heads To California
11/7/2019 4:23:00 PM | Women's Tennis
NORTHRIDGE, California — The North Texas tennis team is on the west coast for its final fall tournament before the new year.
The Mean Green, who feature five newcomers to its eight-woman roster, have used the last four months to gel as a team and gain valuable experience headed into spring. In their most recent tournament, much of it came together as they had a strong showing at the ITA Texas Regional, one of the toughest collegiate tournaments in the nation.
North Texas finished the tournament with 10 singles wins and Nidhi Surapaneni and freshman Kexuan Zhou each reached the quarterfinals of the singles consolation bracket. After losing in the first round of the singles draw, Surapaneni and Zhou bounced back to win three straight matches each in the consolation bracket and reach the quarterfinal round.
North Texas also picked up wins during the tournament from freshman Sophia Hummel who defeated Texas' Gabby Cusano. Sophomore Maria Ponomareva defeated C-USA foe Kylee Kato of UTSA and its three veterans picked up big wins too.
"Going into the the last tournament of the fall season is always exciting for the team," said senior Alexandra Heczey. "It's a great opportunity for us to show how much we improved and grew as a team throughout the whole semester and especially since regionals."
Friday through Sunday, North Texas will compete in the Cal State Northridge Fall Invite, a 12-team tournament that features many of the best teams in the country as well as a familiar friend.
One of the 12 teams in the tournament is Liberty whose head coach, Jeff Maren, spent six seasons as the associate head coach of the Mean Green under Sujay Lama from 2007 until 2013 and helped guide UNT to a pair of Sun Belt Conference championships.
This weekend's tournament will be another opportunity for North Texas' young newcomers to make further strides.
"I believe that all the hard work we put in the practices will show at this last tournament," Heczey said. "With it we will go into the spring season even stronger."
The Mean Green, who feature five newcomers to its eight-woman roster, have used the last four months to gel as a team and gain valuable experience headed into spring. In their most recent tournament, much of it came together as they had a strong showing at the ITA Texas Regional, one of the toughest collegiate tournaments in the nation.
North Texas finished the tournament with 10 singles wins and Nidhi Surapaneni and freshman Kexuan Zhou each reached the quarterfinals of the singles consolation bracket. After losing in the first round of the singles draw, Surapaneni and Zhou bounced back to win three straight matches each in the consolation bracket and reach the quarterfinal round.
North Texas also picked up wins during the tournament from freshman Sophia Hummel who defeated Texas' Gabby Cusano. Sophomore Maria Ponomareva defeated C-USA foe Kylee Kato of UTSA and its three veterans picked up big wins too.
"Going into the the last tournament of the fall season is always exciting for the team," said senior Alexandra Heczey. "It's a great opportunity for us to show how much we improved and grew as a team throughout the whole semester and especially since regionals."
Friday through Sunday, North Texas will compete in the Cal State Northridge Fall Invite, a 12-team tournament that features many of the best teams in the country as well as a familiar friend.
One of the 12 teams in the tournament is Liberty whose head coach, Jeff Maren, spent six seasons as the associate head coach of the Mean Green under Sujay Lama from 2007 until 2013 and helped guide UNT to a pair of Sun Belt Conference championships.
This weekend's tournament will be another opportunity for North Texas' young newcomers to make further strides.
"I believe that all the hard work we put in the practices will show at this last tournament," Heczey said. "With it we will go into the spring season even stronger."
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
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