Friday, February 21
Huntington, WV
University of North Texas
3
at
4
Marshall
Photo by: Mark Woods
UNT Gains Valuable Experience At Marshall
2/21/2020 10:26:00 PM | Women's Tennis
HUNTINGTON, West Virginia —The end result of Friday night's nearly five hour match wasn't exactly what the Mean Green tennis team wanted as they lost 4-3 at Marshall, but the experience of competing in possibly the most tightly contested tennis match there can be left the young North Texas team in a better position to compete for the end goal of a championship.
UNT freshmen and underclassmen saved multiple match points throughout the match to make comebacks and keep UNT alive as they played indoors and were faced with unique circumstances.
After the match, Lama told his team that regardless of the outcome he was proud of them and knows the experience of competing in the nature they did will make them stronger and tougher to beat in the future.
Everything for UNT, which is one of the youngest teams in its region, came down to freshman Sophia Hummel on Friday. After doubles, the German was forced to wait on the side before she could play her singles match as Marshall only has five indoor courts. As the No. 6 player in the lineup waited for a court to open, she watched as her team looked to make a comeback after losing in doubles to a Thundering Herd doubles team that is just a week removed from beating the No. 3 doubles team in the nation.
It was a doubles competition that UNT nearly won though. A ball just out of reach for Hala Khaled Badwy at court one was the difference as UNT's top doubles team of Badwy and Alexandra Heczey fell 7-5 to the Marshall doubles team that was coming off its big upset victory over the No. 3 team in the nation.
As Hummel waited to play singles, she watched as Badwy quickly gained the momentum back for the Mean Green (7-3) and tied the overall score at 1-1 with a quick straight set victory at No. 4. The tie was soon broken by Marshall (7-2) with a win at No. 1. But then the roller coaster of a match had just began as junior Nidhi Surapaneni tied the overall score back up with a straight set victory at the No. 3 position in the lineup. Surapaneni remains undefeated in singles against conference opponents.
Meanwhile as Hummel began her singles match, fellow freshman Kexuan Zhou was saving match point and making a second-set comeback. Zhou would win the second-set 6-4 but could not pull it out in the third set and Marshall regained the lead, 3-2.
With the match on the line, sophomore Maria Ponomareva, who has become a comeback queen, did it again on Friday. Just a week removed from making a 5-2 second set comeback against Louisiana Tech to win, Ponomareva trailed 6-5 in the third set with the overall match on the line. The Russian dug in and came all the way back to win in a tiebreak in the third set and tie the overall score at 3-3.
Now fully locked into her own match, everything came down to Hummel who had been waiting, cold, for a while off to side.
The break might have hindered the freshman early on as she lost the first set and then trailed 5-3 in the second set. And just as it looked like Marshall was going to pull away with an easy victory at No. 6 and win 4-3, Hummel kicked in another gear and made her Thundering Heard opponent break a sweat.
Hummel saved two match points in the second set to come from behind and win the set in a tiebreak. Now with momentum on her side, Hummel used that to make another comeback in the third set. Trailing 5-3 again, Hummel came all the way back to take a 6-5 lead. Marshall would send the set into a tiebreak where it once again went back and forth.
A late rally by Marshall ended up being the difference as they won the tiebreak by four points and won the overall match 4-3. But the fight by UNT and specifically its underclassmen has Lama and the team feeling confident.
They'll have another opportunity on Saturday as they'll face the very competitive FIU Panthers at Marshall at 11 a.m. CT.
RESULTS
Singles
1. Anna Smith (MAR) def. HECZEY, Alexandra (UNT) 6-3, 6-0
2. PONOMAREVA, Maria (UNT) def. Daniela Dankanych (MAR) 7-5, 6-7, 7-6
3. SURAPANENI, Nidhi (UNT) def. Madi Ballow (MAR) 6-3, 6-4
4. BADWY, Hala Khaled (UNT) def. Jutte Van Hansewyck (MAR) 6-2, 6-2
5. Liz Stefancic (MAR) def. ZHOU, Kexuan (UNT) 6-2, 4-6, 6-3
6. Madison Riley (MAR) def. HUMMEL, Sophia (UNT) 6-3, 6-7, 7-6
Doubles
1. Liz Stefancic/Jutte Van Hansewyck (MAR) def. HECZEY, Alexandra/BADWY, Hala Khaled (UNT) 7-5
2. PONOMAREVA, Maria/SURAPANENI, Nidhi (UNT) def. Anna Smith/Daniela Dankanych (MAR) 6-4
3. Madison Riley/Madi Ballow (MAR) def. ZHOU, Kexuan/HUMMEL, Sophia (UNT) 6-2
UNT freshmen and underclassmen saved multiple match points throughout the match to make comebacks and keep UNT alive as they played indoors and were faced with unique circumstances.
After the match, Lama told his team that regardless of the outcome he was proud of them and knows the experience of competing in the nature they did will make them stronger and tougher to beat in the future.
Everything for UNT, which is one of the youngest teams in its region, came down to freshman Sophia Hummel on Friday. After doubles, the German was forced to wait on the side before she could play her singles match as Marshall only has five indoor courts. As the No. 6 player in the lineup waited for a court to open, she watched as her team looked to make a comeback after losing in doubles to a Thundering Herd doubles team that is just a week removed from beating the No. 3 doubles team in the nation.
It was a doubles competition that UNT nearly won though. A ball just out of reach for Hala Khaled Badwy at court one was the difference as UNT's top doubles team of Badwy and Alexandra Heczey fell 7-5 to the Marshall doubles team that was coming off its big upset victory over the No. 3 team in the nation.
As Hummel waited to play singles, she watched as Badwy quickly gained the momentum back for the Mean Green (7-3) and tied the overall score at 1-1 with a quick straight set victory at No. 4. The tie was soon broken by Marshall (7-2) with a win at No. 1. But then the roller coaster of a match had just began as junior Nidhi Surapaneni tied the overall score back up with a straight set victory at the No. 3 position in the lineup. Surapaneni remains undefeated in singles against conference opponents.
Meanwhile as Hummel began her singles match, fellow freshman Kexuan Zhou was saving match point and making a second-set comeback. Zhou would win the second-set 6-4 but could not pull it out in the third set and Marshall regained the lead, 3-2.
With the match on the line, sophomore Maria Ponomareva, who has become a comeback queen, did it again on Friday. Just a week removed from making a 5-2 second set comeback against Louisiana Tech to win, Ponomareva trailed 6-5 in the third set with the overall match on the line. The Russian dug in and came all the way back to win in a tiebreak in the third set and tie the overall score at 3-3.
Now fully locked into her own match, everything came down to Hummel who had been waiting, cold, for a while off to side.
The break might have hindered the freshman early on as she lost the first set and then trailed 5-3 in the second set. And just as it looked like Marshall was going to pull away with an easy victory at No. 6 and win 4-3, Hummel kicked in another gear and made her Thundering Heard opponent break a sweat.
Hummel saved two match points in the second set to come from behind and win the set in a tiebreak. Now with momentum on her side, Hummel used that to make another comeback in the third set. Trailing 5-3 again, Hummel came all the way back to take a 6-5 lead. Marshall would send the set into a tiebreak where it once again went back and forth.
A late rally by Marshall ended up being the difference as they won the tiebreak by four points and won the overall match 4-3. But the fight by UNT and specifically its underclassmen has Lama and the team feeling confident.
They'll have another opportunity on Saturday as they'll face the very competitive FIU Panthers at Marshall at 11 a.m. CT.
RESULTS
Singles
1. Anna Smith (MAR) def. HECZEY, Alexandra (UNT) 6-3, 6-0
2. PONOMAREVA, Maria (UNT) def. Daniela Dankanych (MAR) 7-5, 6-7, 7-6
3. SURAPANENI, Nidhi (UNT) def. Madi Ballow (MAR) 6-3, 6-4
4. BADWY, Hala Khaled (UNT) def. Jutte Van Hansewyck (MAR) 6-2, 6-2
5. Liz Stefancic (MAR) def. ZHOU, Kexuan (UNT) 6-2, 4-6, 6-3
6. Madison Riley (MAR) def. HUMMEL, Sophia (UNT) 6-3, 6-7, 7-6
Doubles
1. Liz Stefancic/Jutte Van Hansewyck (MAR) def. HECZEY, Alexandra/BADWY, Hala Khaled (UNT) 7-5
2. PONOMAREVA, Maria/SURAPANENI, Nidhi (UNT) def. Anna Smith/Daniela Dankanych (MAR) 6-4
3. Madison Riley/Madi Ballow (MAR) def. ZHOU, Kexuan/HUMMEL, Sophia (UNT) 6-2
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
#1 Singles Match
12
30
Anna Smith / 0 [MAR]
66
#2 Singles Match
123
767
Daniela Dankanych / 0 [MAR]
576
#3 Singles Match
12
66
Madi Ballow / 0 [MAR]
34
#4 Singles Match
12
66
Jutte Van Hansewyck / 0 [MAR]
22
#5 Singles Match
123
263
Liz Stefancic / 0 [MAR]
646
#6 Singles Match
123
376
Madison Riley / 0 [MAR]
667
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
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