UNT Tennis Knocks Off UTA

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DENTON, Texas – Mean Green tennis wrapped up its regular season home schedule with its second straight win on Monday afternoon at the Waranch Tennis Complex when it took down cross-town rival UTA, 5-2.

North Texas (13-6) jumped out on top of its opponent 1-0 for the fifth straight match when it took two of the three doubles slots.

“We beat a very good UTA team today,” said associate head coach Jeff Maren. “We gutted out a tough doubles point, and had to battle for the singles points. This is a great step in the right direction as we prepare for conference.”

New No. 3 duo of senior’s Irina Paraschiv and Paula Dinuta took the first match on court three 8-4, before the Mavericks (12-8) took down Valentina Starkova and Kseniya Bardabush on court two 9-7.

The No. 1 tandem of Barbora Vykydalova and Nadia Lee were able to pull out the doubles point though, winning a tough match over Maria Martinez-Romer and Nikola Matovicova 8-6. Lee and Vykydalova now hold a 7-1 record on the season at the top spot.

“We were very impressed with Barbora and Nadia once again,” Maren added. “They didn’t play their best, but found a way to beat a strong pair.”

Singles saw Lee push the North Texas lead to 2-0 when she ran through Verena Scott in straight sets at the No. 2 slot 6-3, 6-2.

After a loss on court one, the Mean Green extended its lead to 3-1 when Paula Dinuta won her match 7-6, 6-4 over Matovicova at No. 5.

The Mavericks would then win another one on court three before Vykydalova and Ilona Serchenko gave North Texas the final two matches and the 5-2 victory.

The Mean Green will be back in action Saturday, April 14, when it takes on Middle Tennessee in Troy, Ala.