Thursday, October 10
Fort Worth, TX
University of North Texas
vs
ITA Texas Regional
Doubles Performances Highlight Play for UNT at ITA Texas Regional
10/14/2024 3:03:00 PM | Women's Tennis
Mean Green have doubles duo advance to round of 16 for third time in four years
Fort Worth – Facing off against the top competition in the state of Texas over the weekend in the ITA Texas Regional, the UNT tennis team had a solid showing highlighted by the combination of Gianna Pielet and Stadfany Nformi advancing to the round of 16 in doubles.
Pielet and Nformi won each of their first two matches on Friday to become the third UNT doubles pair in the last four years to advance to at least the round of 16.
The Mean Green had strong performances overall in doubles with all three teams winning at least one match in the tournament.
Marina Adati highlighted the singles play for the Mean Green. Playing in the qualifying round on Thursday, Adati won her first round match in comeback fashion 1-6, 6-2, 6-2 over Maddy MacNellie of Texas. She then followed it up with another thrilling 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 [7-2] over Rice's Valentina Ponce Serrano to secure her spot in the main draw. She continued her strong play, improving to 8-2 in singles matches this fall.
"This was a great test for us," head coach Amanda Stone said. "We had a few standout wins this weekend over some big programs both in singles and doubles. Marina and Gianna really showed great effort and grit in their singles to advance which is what we are really pushing in our practices. We saw some solid play by all our doubles teams. Our team is at a point where we are very close to breaking into the next level. We are doing the right things, and we have to continue to work hard and take belief and confidence into every match we play. We have to be able to deliver that focus and consistency match to match. Once we master that habit we will be hard to beat."
The Pielet/Nformi combination proved formidable in the tournament, winning its opening round matchup 8-5 over Sam Houston and an 8-1 victory over Texas Tech in the round of 32.
In addition to Pielet and Nformi, the doubles duo of Lilly Schultz and Stanislava Shulzhneko also won its opening round matchup 8-1 against Texas State while Marina Adati and Lou Chalard teamed up to take down SFA 8-6.
In singles play, Lilly Schultz (5-7, 6-1, 6-3) and Lou Chalard (6-0, 6-1) also grabbed victories in their opening round matchups of qualifying, but were unable to win her second to grab a spot in the main draw.
With just 64 players left in the main draw on Friday, Pielet was the lone UNT singles player to grab a victory as she advanced to the round of 32 with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Liubov Kostenko of Baylor. The senior Texas A&M transfer dropped her following match to round out the competition for the Mean Green.
Overall, UNT posted a 9-10 record in total in the tournament, going 4-3 in doubles and 5-7 in singles.
North Texas returns to the courts Oct. 24-27 when they compete in the AAC Fall Championship in Houston.
UNT Doubles Results
Round of 64: Pielet/Nformi (UNT) def. Subba/Sadadinovic (SHSU), 8-5
Round of 64: Schultz/Shulzhenko (UNT) def. Simme/Niers (Texas St.), 8-1
Round of 64: Adati/Chalard (UNT) def. Back/Taco Villarreal (SFA), 8-6
Round of 32: Pielet/Nformi (UNT) def. Daskalova/Oreshchenkova (TTU), 8-1
Round of 32: Schwartzman/Martinez Hernandez (Rice) def. Schultz/Shulzhenko (UNT), 8-2
Round of 32: Schefke/Llewellyn (SMU) def. Adati/Chalard (UNT), 8-5
Round of 16: Tsai/Main (TCU) def. Pielet/Nformi (UNT), 8-0
UNT Singles Results
Qualifying Round One: Marina Adati (UNT) def. Maddy MacNeille (Texas), 1-6, 6-2, 6-2
Qualifying Round One: Lou Chalard (UNT) def. Masha Vrsalovic (ACU), 6-0, 6-1
Qualifying Round One: Emily Niers (Texas St.) def. Carolina Laydner (UNT), 7-6 [7-4], 6-4
Qualifying Round One: Lilly Schultz (UNT) def. Daniela Garcia (PVAMU), 5-7, 6-1, 6-3
Qualifying Round Two: Marina Adati (UNT) def. Ximena Morales Araneda (Tarleton), 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 [7-2]
Qualifying Round Two: Valentina Ponce Serrano (Rice) def. Lou Chalard (UNT), 7-5, 6-4
Qualifying Round Two: Arina Babenko (UTSA) def. Lilly Schultz (UNT), 6-2, 6-3
Round of 64: Liubov Kostenko (Baylor) def. Stadfany Nformi (UNT), 6-0, 6-3
Round of 64: Gianna Pielet (UNT) def. Kennedy Gibbs (Baylor), 6-4, 6-4
Round of 64: Ariana Anazagasty-Pursoo (Texas) def. Marina Adati (UNT), 7-5, 7-5
Round of 64: Drew Morris (SMU) def. Stanislava Shulzhenko (UNT), 6-1, 6-1
Round of 32: Emma Persson (Tarleton) def. Gianna Pielet (UNT), 6-0, 3-6, 7-5
Pielet and Nformi won each of their first two matches on Friday to become the third UNT doubles pair in the last four years to advance to at least the round of 16.
The Mean Green had strong performances overall in doubles with all three teams winning at least one match in the tournament.
Marina Adati highlighted the singles play for the Mean Green. Playing in the qualifying round on Thursday, Adati won her first round match in comeback fashion 1-6, 6-2, 6-2 over Maddy MacNellie of Texas. She then followed it up with another thrilling 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 [7-2] over Rice's Valentina Ponce Serrano to secure her spot in the main draw. She continued her strong play, improving to 8-2 in singles matches this fall.
"This was a great test for us," head coach Amanda Stone said. "We had a few standout wins this weekend over some big programs both in singles and doubles. Marina and Gianna really showed great effort and grit in their singles to advance which is what we are really pushing in our practices. We saw some solid play by all our doubles teams. Our team is at a point where we are very close to breaking into the next level. We are doing the right things, and we have to continue to work hard and take belief and confidence into every match we play. We have to be able to deliver that focus and consistency match to match. Once we master that habit we will be hard to beat."
The Pielet/Nformi combination proved formidable in the tournament, winning its opening round matchup 8-5 over Sam Houston and an 8-1 victory over Texas Tech in the round of 32.
In addition to Pielet and Nformi, the doubles duo of Lilly Schultz and Stanislava Shulzhneko also won its opening round matchup 8-1 against Texas State while Marina Adati and Lou Chalard teamed up to take down SFA 8-6.
In singles play, Lilly Schultz (5-7, 6-1, 6-3) and Lou Chalard (6-0, 6-1) also grabbed victories in their opening round matchups of qualifying, but were unable to win her second to grab a spot in the main draw.
With just 64 players left in the main draw on Friday, Pielet was the lone UNT singles player to grab a victory as she advanced to the round of 32 with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Liubov Kostenko of Baylor. The senior Texas A&M transfer dropped her following match to round out the competition for the Mean Green.
Overall, UNT posted a 9-10 record in total in the tournament, going 4-3 in doubles and 5-7 in singles.
North Texas returns to the courts Oct. 24-27 when they compete in the AAC Fall Championship in Houston.
UNT Doubles Results
Round of 64: Pielet/Nformi (UNT) def. Subba/Sadadinovic (SHSU), 8-5
Round of 64: Schultz/Shulzhenko (UNT) def. Simme/Niers (Texas St.), 8-1
Round of 64: Adati/Chalard (UNT) def. Back/Taco Villarreal (SFA), 8-6
Round of 32: Pielet/Nformi (UNT) def. Daskalova/Oreshchenkova (TTU), 8-1
Round of 32: Schwartzman/Martinez Hernandez (Rice) def. Schultz/Shulzhenko (UNT), 8-2
Round of 32: Schefke/Llewellyn (SMU) def. Adati/Chalard (UNT), 8-5
Round of 16: Tsai/Main (TCU) def. Pielet/Nformi (UNT), 8-0
UNT Singles Results
Qualifying Round One: Marina Adati (UNT) def. Maddy MacNeille (Texas), 1-6, 6-2, 6-2
Qualifying Round One: Lou Chalard (UNT) def. Masha Vrsalovic (ACU), 6-0, 6-1
Qualifying Round One: Emily Niers (Texas St.) def. Carolina Laydner (UNT), 7-6 [7-4], 6-4
Qualifying Round One: Lilly Schultz (UNT) def. Daniela Garcia (PVAMU), 5-7, 6-1, 6-3
Qualifying Round Two: Marina Adati (UNT) def. Ximena Morales Araneda (Tarleton), 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 [7-2]
Qualifying Round Two: Valentina Ponce Serrano (Rice) def. Lou Chalard (UNT), 7-5, 6-4
Qualifying Round Two: Arina Babenko (UTSA) def. Lilly Schultz (UNT), 6-2, 6-3
Round of 64: Liubov Kostenko (Baylor) def. Stadfany Nformi (UNT), 6-0, 6-3
Round of 64: Gianna Pielet (UNT) def. Kennedy Gibbs (Baylor), 6-4, 6-4
Round of 64: Ariana Anazagasty-Pursoo (Texas) def. Marina Adati (UNT), 7-5, 7-5
Round of 64: Drew Morris (SMU) def. Stanislava Shulzhenko (UNT), 6-1, 6-1
Round of 32: Emma Persson (Tarleton) def. Gianna Pielet (UNT), 6-0, 3-6, 7-5
-- GMG --
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
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