University of North Texas Athletics
Photo by: Rick Yeatts Photography
Tennis Faces FAU In First Round
4/19/2021 2:49:00 PM | Women's Tennis
DENTON — The North Texas tennis team will take on Florida Atlantic on Thursday at noon in the first round of the 2021 Conference USA Championship, which the Mean Green are hosting.
The Mean Green (6-12) earned the 12th seed in the tournament while the Owls (8-6) are the 5th seed. UNT has reached the semifinals of 10 of the last 11 conference tournaments. Florida Atlantic reached the finals of the 2019 tournament. There was no C-USA Tournament last season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The last time the Mean Green hosted the C-USA Championship was in 2017. They beat Middle Tennessee and Old Dominion that year in the conference tournament before falling to eventual champion Rice in the semifinals.
This season the Mean Green have a shortened roster. They feature just six active players, which is the minimum a team can have. They are led at the top of the singles lineup by newcomer Lucie Devier — a powerful junior college transfer who earlier this season beat Tulsa's Martina Okalova who was ranked top 100 in the nation at the time they met.
Devier is also featured in the Mean Green's top doubles team alongside Saki Oyama. The duo ended the regular season No. 58 in the nation.
Along with Devier, UNT has valuable experience all over the top of its roster. Senior Nidhi Surapaneni guided UNT to a semifinal appearance in 2019 and quarterfinal upset victory over FIU that season as well. Next to Surapaneni and Devier in the singles lineup is Maria Ponomareva. The junior has been one of the most consistent players for the Mean Green this year. Ponomareva is also partners with Surapaneni in the doubles lineup.
The 2021 Conference USA Women's Tennis Championship runs from Thursday through Sunday.
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
Friday, May 15
Monday, May 11
Saturday, April 18
Wednesday, April 15