University of North Texas Athletics
Saturday, February 1
Denton
Noon
University of North Texas
5
vs
2
Northwestern State
Photo by: Mark Woods
Mean Green race past Northwestern State
2/1/2020 2:39:00 PM | Women's Tennis
DENTON – The North Texas tennis team continued its hot start to the season on Saturday with a 5-2 win over Northwestern State. The Mean Green are now 4-0 on the season, which is the best four-game start in program history.
The win came on a day where North Texas honored the Chinese Lunar New Year and freshman Kexuan Zhou, who is from Changsha, China.
It was fitting that Zhou and her doubles partner, freshman Sophia Hummel, got the Mean Green started off on the right foot. Zhou and Hummel raced past their NSU opponents for a 6-2 win in the first doubles match of the day. Nidhi Surapaneni and Maria Ponomareva followed quickly with a 6-2 victory of their own to give North Texas a 1-0 lead heading into singles.
During singles, Hummel showcased why she was a highly touted recruit in her home country of Germany. Hummel – who also celebrated her 18th birthday today – dominated her opponent 6-0, 6-1. North Texas head coach Sujay Lama called her performance "the best since she arrived in the fall."
"I felt really confident in myself coming into today," Hummel said. "I tried to stay focused the entire time, and when I did that my game was really good."
Hala Khaled Badwy gave North Texas a three-point lead with a 6-0, 6-2 win. Just several minutes later, Surapaneni clinched the match with a crafty forehand that fell just out of her opponent's reach. Surapaneni has not lost a doubles or singles match this season.
Ponomareva was the last Mean Green player to leave the courts with a win, defeating her opponent 6-1, 6-4. The Lady Devils took the last two singles points from the Mean Green.
North Texas has dominated the opening four matches of the season. They have now won 24 of 28 possible points and finished 3-0 against Southland Conference teams this season.
However, matches will start to become more challenging as the season ramps up. The Mean Green will play three matches in four days this week when they travel to Sam Houston State on Tuesday before heading west to play Arizona and Kansas State in Tucson, Arizona.
"We've really found our confidence here in the last few weeks," Hummel said. "In the fall, we were all still learning how to play with each other. Now that we have some experience in us, results are starting to come our way."
COACH LAMA
On today's match: "We have a lot of confidence in the talent we have. At the same time, you can see that each match is becoming more and more challenging. We were challenged a little bit more today than we have been, but I thought we did a good job of responding."
On Hummel's singles performance: "That's the best I've seen Sophia play, and it was great to see her play like that on her birthday with friends in attendance. We believe in Sophia, and when she's playing like she was today, she's unstoppable."
RESULTS
Singles
Mariella Minetti (NSU) def. Alexandra Heczey (UNT): 1-6, 6-4, 6-1
Nidhi Surapaneni (UNT) def. Ela Iwaniuk (NSU): 6-3, 6-3
Hala Khaled Badwy (UNT) def. Dorota Szczygielska (NSU): 6-0, 6-2
Maria Ponomareva (UNT) def. Patrycja Polanska (NSU): 6-1, 6-4
Olivia Alfredsson (NSU) def. Kexuan Zhou (UNT): 7-5, 6-2
Sophia Hummel (UNT) def. Judit Castillo Gargallo (NSU): 6-0, 6-1
Doubles
Dancetovic/Iwaniuk (NSU) def. Heczey/Badwy (UNT): 6-4
Surapaneni/Ponomareva (UNT) def. Minetti/Polanska (NSU): 6-2
Hummel/Zhou (UNT) def. Alfredsson/Castillo Gargallo (NSU): 6-2
The win came on a day where North Texas honored the Chinese Lunar New Year and freshman Kexuan Zhou, who is from Changsha, China.
It was fitting that Zhou and her doubles partner, freshman Sophia Hummel, got the Mean Green started off on the right foot. Zhou and Hummel raced past their NSU opponents for a 6-2 win in the first doubles match of the day. Nidhi Surapaneni and Maria Ponomareva followed quickly with a 6-2 victory of their own to give North Texas a 1-0 lead heading into singles.
During singles, Hummel showcased why she was a highly touted recruit in her home country of Germany. Hummel – who also celebrated her 18th birthday today – dominated her opponent 6-0, 6-1. North Texas head coach Sujay Lama called her performance "the best since she arrived in the fall."
"I felt really confident in myself coming into today," Hummel said. "I tried to stay focused the entire time, and when I did that my game was really good."
Hala Khaled Badwy gave North Texas a three-point lead with a 6-0, 6-2 win. Just several minutes later, Surapaneni clinched the match with a crafty forehand that fell just out of her opponent's reach. Surapaneni has not lost a doubles or singles match this season.
Ponomareva was the last Mean Green player to leave the courts with a win, defeating her opponent 6-1, 6-4. The Lady Devils took the last two singles points from the Mean Green.
North Texas has dominated the opening four matches of the season. They have now won 24 of 28 possible points and finished 3-0 against Southland Conference teams this season.
However, matches will start to become more challenging as the season ramps up. The Mean Green will play three matches in four days this week when they travel to Sam Houston State on Tuesday before heading west to play Arizona and Kansas State in Tucson, Arizona.
"We've really found our confidence here in the last few weeks," Hummel said. "In the fall, we were all still learning how to play with each other. Now that we have some experience in us, results are starting to come our way."
COACH LAMA
On today's match: "We have a lot of confidence in the talent we have. At the same time, you can see that each match is becoming more and more challenging. We were challenged a little bit more today than we have been, but I thought we did a good job of responding."
On Hummel's singles performance: "That's the best I've seen Sophia play, and it was great to see her play like that on her birthday with friends in attendance. We believe in Sophia, and when she's playing like she was today, she's unstoppable."
RESULTS
Singles
Mariella Minetti (NSU) def. Alexandra Heczey (UNT): 1-6, 6-4, 6-1
Nidhi Surapaneni (UNT) def. Ela Iwaniuk (NSU): 6-3, 6-3
Hala Khaled Badwy (UNT) def. Dorota Szczygielska (NSU): 6-0, 6-2
Maria Ponomareva (UNT) def. Patrycja Polanska (NSU): 6-1, 6-4
Olivia Alfredsson (NSU) def. Kexuan Zhou (UNT): 7-5, 6-2
Sophia Hummel (UNT) def. Judit Castillo Gargallo (NSU): 6-0, 6-1
Doubles
Dancetovic/Iwaniuk (NSU) def. Heczey/Badwy (UNT): 6-4
Surapaneni/Ponomareva (UNT) def. Minetti/Polanska (NSU): 6-2
Hummel/Zhou (UNT) def. Alfredsson/Castillo Gargallo (NSU): 6-2
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
3,2,1
#1 Singles Match
123
Mariella Minetti / 0 [NSU]
166
641
#2 Singles Match
12
Ela Iwaniuk / 0 [NSU]
33
66
#3 Singles Match
12
Dorota Szczygielska / 0 [NSU]
02
66
#4 Singles Match
12
Patrycja Polanska / 0 [NSU]
14
66
#5 Singles Match
12
Olivia Alfredsson / 0 [NSU]
76
52
#6 Singles Match
12
Judit Castillo / 0 [NSU]
01
66
Order of Finish:
6,3,2,4,5,1
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
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