Conference USA play for the Mean Green tennis opened Friday afternoon where North Texas (6-2, 1-0 C-USA) hosted and defeated Louisiana Tech 4-3.
Senior Alex Heczey lost both sets in her singles matchup 6-4 which brought the score to a tie at two apiece. In other singles’ matchups, sophomore Maria Ponomavera split sets with Louisiana Tech’s Ilana Tetruashvili. Ponomavera fell behind 5-2 in the third set but rallied back to win (7-5). Freshman Hala Khaled Bawly swept her opponent winning with a score of (6-4, 6-1).
In the clinching singles match, junior Nidhi Surapaneni won the third set 6-0 giving the Mean Green an overall 4-2 lead. Louisiana Tech would then add one more victory to make the final total 4-3 in North Texas’ favor.
“My match was very close in the first and second set so I was always on my toes,” Surapaneni told Mean Green Sports News. “When the second set was happening, Maria’s comeback in the third set helped me a lot because she stayed on the court longer.”
The Mean Green won the doubles point with their No. 3 doubles team consisting of freshman Kekuan Zhou and freshman Sophia Hummel winning 7-5. Each team split the first two doubles matches with the Mean Green No. 1 team winning 6-3, and the LA Tech No. 2 team winning (6-1).
With the win, the Mean Green remains undefeated at home this season with a 5-0 record.
UP NEXT: North Texas will host UTEP (6-2, 1-0 C-USA) Sunday afternoon, Feb. 17 where the Miners come off a 7-0 victory over Texas Wesleyan.
Featured Image: Junior Nidhi Surapaneni and sophomore Maria Ponomavera celebrate during the UNT vs. LA Tech Tennis match on Feb. 14th, 2020. Image by Ryan Cantrell
Article Originally Published by on North Texas Daily
Source: North Texas Daily
