UNT goes 3-1 over break, stays undefeated in SBC play
Caitlyn Alvarado / Staff Writer
For the Mean Green tennis team, spring break was anything but a break. Last week UNT lost to the University of Tulsa and beat Wichita State University at home and then traveled to Louisiana to defeat both the University of Louisiana-Monroe and the University of Louisiana-Lafayette.
Tulsa
No. 54 UNT (10-4, 4-0) came up short in its match against No. 22 Tulsa, 4-1, on March 9. The Golden Hurricane took the doubles point to start off the match at the Las Colinas Country Club indoor facility.
The match was moved to Las Colinas because of rain in the area.
No. 59 nationally-ranked Tulsa junior Samantha Vickers took the first singles point defeating UNT sophomore Kseniya Bardabush in the No. 1 singles slot 6-2, 6-3.
“I know I can beat these kind of players,” Bardabush said. “Being ranked isn’t important to me. I tried really hard but just couldn’t win it.”
Senior captain Barbora Vykydalova won the lone point in the No. 2 singles slot, making the score 2-1. The No. 3 and No. 4 singles slots won the match for Tulsa as it defeated senior Valentina Starkova and sophomore Franziska Sprinkmeyer.
Wichita State
After adding a fourth loss to its record, UNT got revenge from last season by defeating Wichita State University 4-1. Sprinkmeyer had the final match to clinch the win for the mean green, beating her opponent in the No. 4 singles spot.
“She [Sprinkmeyer] had a couple of rough matches lately,” Lama said. “And for her to clinch the match against the girl who actually won the match for them last year was exciting for us.”
After winning the doubles point, Starkova and Vykydalova also added to the singles point, both defeating their opponents in two sets.
Louisiana-Monroe
After a more than seven hour drive to Louisiana, UNT added another win as it defeated the University of Louisiana-Monroe on Saturday, 5-2.
The team took the doubles point as Starkova and Vykydalova overcame their opponents, 8-3, and Bardabush and Sprinkmeyer finished the doubles matches also winning, 8-3.
“I feel like they gave 100 percent and we didn’t play our absolute best, so it’s good that we won,” Vykydalova said.
Senior Illona Serchenko had the first singles win, 7-5, 6-2, in the No. 5 singles spot. Bardabush, Starkova and Vykydalova took wins in their singles matches while ULM took the No. 4 and No. 6 singles matches.
Louisiana-Lafayette
Finishing spring break with a win and remaining undefeated in conference play, UNT also defeated the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, 4-0.
Taking its third consecutive doubles point, the team started the day ahead, 1-0.
Bardabush, Starkova and Vykydalova took the wins in their singles matches giving UNT the 4-0 sweep.
“These are our top three players and they really stepped up their games,” Lama said. “I thought this was our best match of the season. Everyone showed up and was in attacked mode.”
UNT will take on Columbia University this Saturday at the Waranch Tennis Complex.
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