Thursday, February 27
Denton
2:00 PM CT
University of North Texas
2
vs
4
South Florida
Mean Green fall to South Florida
2/27/2020 5:26:00 PM | Women's Tennis
DENTON – The North Texas women's tennis team dropped its first home match of the season on Thursday in a 4-2 loss to South Florida.
The Mean Green (7-5) showed glimpses of brilliance throughout the match and put themselves in a position to win coming down the stretch.
North Texas was down 3-2 in the match with freshmen Kexuan Zhou and Sophia Hummel competing in third sets on courts no. 5 and 6. After Hummel put in a gritty performance during the second set and saved two match points to come from behind and win in tiebreakers to force a decisive third set, the match ended early due to the Bulls (4-4) winning the game-deciding point on court no. 5.
"We battled," head coach Sujay Lama said. "We put ourselves in positions to win these matches. It's a learning process. Like I told the girls, our fight is great and we're battling during matches. We just need to start finishing off doubles points to get us started on the right foot because we can't keep putting ourselves in holes like that."
After losing the doubles point to USF (4-4), Nidhi Surapaneni won her singles point by a 6-2, 6-3 score to even the match at 1-1. North Texas has lost the doubles point in the last three matches.
Hala Khaled Badwy gained the other Mean Green point with a comeback 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 victory over her USF opponent.
North Texas is one of the youngest teams in the state of Texas. During Thursday's match, UNT played three freshmen and a sophomore transfer. Lama is optimistic that the Mean Green are learning more and more from each match, which will prepare them for the conference tournament in April.
"We are right there, and this is a team that needs this experience," Lama said. "We're going to use this in a positive manner going for. Our attitude and fight is great right now, so we just have to turn this thing around and we'll be fine. I'm proud of these kids."
North Texas honored Sophia Hummel and Louisa Junghanns before the match for German Culture Day. Hummel is originally from Bissingen, Germany, while Junghanns is from Baldham, Germany.
The Mean Green will be back in action on Saturday when they host Memphis at noon at Waranch Tennis Complex.
RESULTS
Singles
1.Pellice Perello (USF) def. Ponomareva (UNT): 6-1, 7-6
2. Boy (USF) def. Heczey (UNT): 6-1, 4-6, 2-6
3. Surapaneni (UNT) def. Tiron (USF): 6-2, 6-3
4. Badwy (UNT) def. Mjos (USF): 3-6, 6-2, 6-4
5. Eland (USF) def. Zhou (UNT): 2-6, 7-6, 6-2
6. Hummel (UNT) vs. Garrigues-Melendez (USF): 6-7. 7-6, 2-0
Doubles
1. Boy/Mjos (USF) vs. Heczey/Badwy (UNT): N/A
2. Eland/Pellicer Perello (USF) def. Surapaneni/Ponomareva (UNT): 6-3
3. Clark/Tiron (USF) def. Hummel/Zhou (UNT): 6-4
The Mean Green (7-5) showed glimpses of brilliance throughout the match and put themselves in a position to win coming down the stretch.
North Texas was down 3-2 in the match with freshmen Kexuan Zhou and Sophia Hummel competing in third sets on courts no. 5 and 6. After Hummel put in a gritty performance during the second set and saved two match points to come from behind and win in tiebreakers to force a decisive third set, the match ended early due to the Bulls (4-4) winning the game-deciding point on court no. 5.
"We battled," head coach Sujay Lama said. "We put ourselves in positions to win these matches. It's a learning process. Like I told the girls, our fight is great and we're battling during matches. We just need to start finishing off doubles points to get us started on the right foot because we can't keep putting ourselves in holes like that."
After losing the doubles point to USF (4-4), Nidhi Surapaneni won her singles point by a 6-2, 6-3 score to even the match at 1-1. North Texas has lost the doubles point in the last three matches.
Hala Khaled Badwy gained the other Mean Green point with a comeback 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 victory over her USF opponent.
North Texas is one of the youngest teams in the state of Texas. During Thursday's match, UNT played three freshmen and a sophomore transfer. Lama is optimistic that the Mean Green are learning more and more from each match, which will prepare them for the conference tournament in April.
"We are right there, and this is a team that needs this experience," Lama said. "We're going to use this in a positive manner going for. Our attitude and fight is great right now, so we just have to turn this thing around and we'll be fine. I'm proud of these kids."
North Texas honored Sophia Hummel and Louisa Junghanns before the match for German Culture Day. Hummel is originally from Bissingen, Germany, while Junghanns is from Baldham, Germany.
The Mean Green will be back in action on Saturday when they host Memphis at noon at Waranch Tennis Complex.
RESULTS
Singles
1.Pellice Perello (USF) def. Ponomareva (UNT): 6-1, 7-6
2. Boy (USF) def. Heczey (UNT): 6-1, 4-6, 2-6
3. Surapaneni (UNT) def. Tiron (USF): 6-2, 6-3
4. Badwy (UNT) def. Mjos (USF): 3-6, 6-2, 6-4
5. Eland (USF) def. Zhou (UNT): 2-6, 7-6, 6-2
6. Hummel (UNT) vs. Garrigues-Melendez (USF): 6-7. 7-6, 2-0
Doubles
1. Boy/Mjos (USF) vs. Heczey/Badwy (UNT): N/A
2. Eland/Pellicer Perello (USF) def. Surapaneni/Ponomareva (UNT): 6-3
3. Clark/Tiron (USF) def. Hummel/Zhou (UNT): 6-4
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
2,3
#1 Singles Match
12
Laura Perello / 0 [USF]
67
16
#2 Singles Match
123
Amelie Boy / 0 [USF]
646
162
#3 Singles Match
12
Evelyne Tiron / 0 [USF]
23
66
#4 Singles Match
123
Alexandria Mjos / 0 [USF]
624
366
#5 Singles Match
123
Grace Eland / 0 [USF]
276
662
#6 Singles Match
1234
Lucia Garrigues / 0 [USF]
7600
672UF
Order of Finish:
3,1,2,4,5
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
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