Mean Green opens conference play with a win over Louisiana Tech
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
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