University of North Texas Athletics
Friday, January 17
Denton
2:00 PM
University of North Texas
7
vs
0
Stephen F. Austin
Photo by: Mark Woods
Mean Green Dominate Season Opener
1/17/2020 5:07:00 PM | Women's Tennis
PLANO – The North Texas tennis team opened its spring season with a perfect 7-0 victory over Stephen F. Austin on Friday afternoon.
Head coach Sujay Lama has a squad that includes five newcomers and four freshmen. Coming into the match, Lama was adamant on everyone being "All In", which happens to be the team's slogan this season.
On Friday, both freshmen and upperclassmen stepped up to the occasion. The Mean Green (1-0) picked up all three doubles victories before rattling off six singles matches.
Freshmen Sophia Hummel and Kexuan Zhou started off doubles with a bang, defeating the Lumberjacks 6-1 in dominant fashion. Nidhi Surapaneni and Maria Ponomareva then teamed up for a 6-3 victory, which was culminated by an overhead spike from Ponomareva to give the Mean Green a 1-0 advantage in the match.
With the doubles point already clinched, Alexandra Heczey and Hala Khaled Badwy took their SFA opponents down to the wire before prevailing in tiebreakers 7-6 (7-5).
Hummel, who had a career day at the indoor facility in Plano, picked up her team's first singles point after defeating her opponent 6-3, 6-0.
"I've practiced a lot the past couple of days and worked on a few specific things that I struggled with in the past," Hummel said. "It all came together at the end today, and getting my self-confidence back really helped today. When I got the feel, I felt really confident with my strokes."
Heczey quickly followed with a 6-3, 6-2 singles victory before Badwy ended her match 6-4, 6-1 with a powerful forehand shot that her opponent had trouble handling. Badwy's victory clinched the match for North Texas at 4-0.
Head coach Sujay Lama wanted to let the unfinished matches continue in an effort to gain experience for his young squad.
In the final three matches, Surapaneni, Ponomareva and Zhou all won their matches in straight sets.
UNT will host its second dual meet of the season on Sunday at 1 p.m. against New Mexico State at the Waranch Tennis Complex.
COACH LAMA
"What I like about this team is the energy and togetherness that they bring to the table. They are so committed to working hard together. I really enjoy watching this team, and this performance felt really good today."
RESULTS
Singles
Heczey def. Guilante: 6-3, 6-2
Surapaneni def. Tiboldi: 6-4, 6-2
Badwy def. Walker: 6-4, 6-1
Ponomareva def. Cerdan: 6-1, 7-5
Zhou def. Kamal: 6-4, 6-3
Hummel def. Bleicher: 6-3, 6-0
Doubles
Heczey/Badwy def. Guilante: 7-6 (7-5)
Surapaneni/Ponomareva def. Walker/Kamal: 6-3
Hummel/Zhou def. Tiboldi/Cerdan: 6-1
Head coach Sujay Lama has a squad that includes five newcomers and four freshmen. Coming into the match, Lama was adamant on everyone being "All In", which happens to be the team's slogan this season.
On Friday, both freshmen and upperclassmen stepped up to the occasion. The Mean Green (1-0) picked up all three doubles victories before rattling off six singles matches.
Freshmen Sophia Hummel and Kexuan Zhou started off doubles with a bang, defeating the Lumberjacks 6-1 in dominant fashion. Nidhi Surapaneni and Maria Ponomareva then teamed up for a 6-3 victory, which was culminated by an overhead spike from Ponomareva to give the Mean Green a 1-0 advantage in the match.
With the doubles point already clinched, Alexandra Heczey and Hala Khaled Badwy took their SFA opponents down to the wire before prevailing in tiebreakers 7-6 (7-5).
Hummel, who had a career day at the indoor facility in Plano, picked up her team's first singles point after defeating her opponent 6-3, 6-0.
"I've practiced a lot the past couple of days and worked on a few specific things that I struggled with in the past," Hummel said. "It all came together at the end today, and getting my self-confidence back really helped today. When I got the feel, I felt really confident with my strokes."
Heczey quickly followed with a 6-3, 6-2 singles victory before Badwy ended her match 6-4, 6-1 with a powerful forehand shot that her opponent had trouble handling. Badwy's victory clinched the match for North Texas at 4-0.
Head coach Sujay Lama wanted to let the unfinished matches continue in an effort to gain experience for his young squad.
In the final three matches, Surapaneni, Ponomareva and Zhou all won their matches in straight sets.
UNT will host its second dual meet of the season on Sunday at 1 p.m. against New Mexico State at the Waranch Tennis Complex.
COACH LAMA
"What I like about this team is the energy and togetherness that they bring to the table. They are so committed to working hard together. I really enjoy watching this team, and this performance felt really good today."
RESULTS
Singles
Heczey def. Guilante: 6-3, 6-2
Surapaneni def. Tiboldi: 6-4, 6-2
Badwy def. Walker: 6-4, 6-1
Ponomareva def. Cerdan: 6-1, 7-5
Zhou def. Kamal: 6-4, 6-3
Hummel def. Bleicher: 6-3, 6-0
Doubles
Heczey/Badwy def. Guilante: 7-6 (7-5)
Surapaneni/Ponomareva def. Walker/Kamal: 6-3
Hummel/Zhou def. Tiboldi/Cerdan: 6-1
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
3,2,1
#1 Singles Match
12
GUILARTE, Gabi / 0 [SFA]
32
66
#2 Singles Match
12
TIBOLDI, Darinka / 0 [SFA]
24
66
#3 Singles Match
12
WALKER, Annie / 0 [SFA]
41
66
#4 Singles Match
12
CERDAN, Armelle / 0 [SFA]
15
67
#5 Singles Match
12
KAMAL, Nida / 0 [SFA]
43
66
#6 Singles Match
12
BLEICHER, Elena / 0 [SFA]
30
66
Order of Finish:
6,1,3,2,5,4
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
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