Zeleny' Orel

Wasn't able to make It to the match, so have no personal insights. Injuries are part of the game...we have been without Sprinkmeyer for months. I was glad to see Augustina Valenzula come back to win a close match after losing a tough one against UTEP. In that one she was down 4-1 in the second set and came back to almost win the set. She is a good 3rd set player so she always has a good chance if the match goes long....tremendous endurance and plays better as the match goes on. 4 matches in the next 10 days.....will be interesting to see how the ladies fare! GO MEAN GREEN!

Was going by UNT tennis website that had Galieva listed as a freshman...did she actually play for UALR last year?

We play a home match with Louisiana Tech on March 22 and UTSA on April 5, both at 11:00 am. That should give us a better feel for where we stand. Unlike the Sun Belt, where we played every conference team prior to the tournament, Conference USA is so large and so spread out that we actually only play a few conference teams before the tournament, so if it difficult to get a read on all the opponents. I would agree that Tulsa and Rice are clearly the best teams in the conference....after that, I am not sure since I haven't seen all the teams play. On an unrelated note, I hope the team chemistry is not affected by the conflict between Russia and the Ukraine since we have players from both countries. Our #1 and #2 players, Kseniya Bardabush and Anastasiya Shestakova are both from the Ukraine, while Kamilla Galieva, currently playing at #3, is from Russia. Who would have thought that conflicts around the world could possibly impact UNT tennis. Since Shestakova just came in January and Galieva is a freshman, the bond may not be as strong as if they were upperclassmen as is Bardabush, a junior. Hopefully Coach Lama can guide everyone thorough this situation. GO MEAN GREEN!

Sunday's tennis match with UTEP was moved indoors to the Las Colinas Country Club in Irving and started at 7:30 a.m. This was the first match with a Conference USA foe and UNT prevailed 4-1. UTEP kept several matches close, but UNT won 4 of the 5 completed singles matches and was in route to win the 6th if needed. Due to court space, the singles matches were played first and no doubles was played since the victory was already decided. UNT looks to be improving steadily this spring. The ladies have played a very steady dose of higher ranked teams and it seems to have improved the games of the players. Hopefully they will peak by the Conference USA tournament in Virginia in mid-April. The team is very young (2 juniors, 2 sophomores, and 4 freshmen) so experience is being gained daily. Some observations: #1 player Kseniya Bardabush seems to have overcome her ankle injury and is playing at a high level; junior Franziska Spinkmeyer is still out with an Achilles problem, but says she will begin to play some again in a couple of weeks; if she comes back strong, that will strengthen the team going into the tournament #2 player Anastasiya Shestokova (enrolled as a freshman in January) is the real deal...look for her to do great things in the future; she has won the first 4 matches she has played for UNT Current lineup has freshmen playing in the #2, #3, #5 and #6 spots, with a junior playing at #1 and a sophomore at #4. Spinkmeyer, a junior, if back to form, could play anywhere from the #3 to #6 spot and is a valuable doubles player as well. It will be an interesting spring season. Conference USA is a tough tennis conference and I see UNT in the upper half of the teams. Tournament seedings may well determine how far we go in the tournament. No doubt that the next few years look bright. Coach Lama is a great coach and now has ex-TCU head coach and ex-SMU assistant head coach, Jeff Hammond, assisting him. The foundation looks solid. GO MEAN GREEN!

UNT tennis, ranked #69. defeated # 52 Kansas State today by a 4-3 score. They won the #2, #3, #4, and #5 singles matches. With the teams tied at 3-3, Anastasiya Shestoakova, a freshman from the Ukranine who joined the team in January, pulled out the winning point with a 2-6, 7-5, 6-1 comeback victory to seal the win. She is currently playing in the #2 slot. It should be noted that Franziska Sprinkmeyer, who had been playing the #2 or #3 singles slot in the fall and #1 slot in doubles did not play. She played last weekend in doubles against Miami of Ohio, but not singles. She is still recovering from an achilles tendon injury. Her loss put the #4, #5, and #6 players up a position in the match. It will be interesting to see how the young team fares with all the top six players in action. Although their spring record is currently a losing one, all but two matches have been played against teams with a higher ranking than that of UNT. This strong competition should pay off as the season moves toward the conference tournament to be played at Old Dominion University in Virginia in mid-April. GO MEAN GREEN!

UNTBowler....I think you are right on with your rankings. Rice is really tough, Tulsa not far behind, and Tulane a tad below Tulsa. If we have everyone healthy, have our new freshman play up to her potential, and continue improving, we could make a deep run during tournament time. It would take a good draw and everyone playing at the top of their game, but it could be a team that gets to the finals if all goes well. We will now more once some of the dual matches start this spring....GO MEAN GREEN!

Both have been injured on and off during the fall...ankle for Bardabush and achilles for Sprinkmeyer. They missed several matches/tournaments in the fall, leaving us shorthanded on experience since both are juniors (no seniors on team this year). Hope they heal before the conference tournament or even earlier. Noticed our new freshman from Ukraine who enrolled at semester played in the top spot. She is said to be really good and will probably end up at the #2 or #3 spot when Bardabush returns---with a little experience she might be able to take over the #1 spot next year.

Make that Nick Saban.....

Oops....I guess if I can't remember Nick Sabin's name, he shouldn't receive a raise!

With all the recent contract signings and extensions given to college football coaches lately, I began to wonder what type of coach is most worthy of a raise for a job well done? Would It be the coach who keeps his team at the top (i.e., Lou Sabin, Alabama) or one who moves his team up the ladder of success (i.e.,Coach Mac, UNT)? Which requires more coaching skills ? Which is the harder job to do? Or is it based purely on who brings in the most money for the university?

Anyone know if there is a replay scheduled anywhere? I couldn't find it on the ESPNU schedule.

26. Feeling we may have made the needed turnaround in our football program for me to have renewed hope that I will enjoy the remaining years of my life enjoying mostly winning seasons! GO MEAN GREEN!

Business Casual...says wear green, jeans, and boots

In reading an article by Bill Nichols about SMU football "Big plays, big blunders tale of SMU run" in this morning's DMN, the next to last paragraph caught my eye: "The Mustangs face another difficult nonconference schedule next year, which includes an opener against Big 12 champion Baylor, followed by North Texas, Texas A&M and TCU". Do you think North Texas is included because it is just part of their nonconference schedule or do you think UNT is now considered by the writer as a "difficult" opponent? He could have easily just named the other three nonconference games and not included us at all. I am hoping this might be a little step in changing the perception of our football progam. Then again, I have been accused of having green blood through and through so I may be reading what I want into this. GO MEAN GREEN....BEAT UNLV!

Cynthia is a very valuable alum for UNT....she never misses an opportunity to plug UNT and her co-hosts frequently bring up her being a proud UNT alum when UNT stories are on. I would tend to agree that this was one of her ad-libs just by looking at the face of the reporter. It looks as if he is thinking "why am I not suprised that she is adding to my story about UNT". Good hype for the game to an audience not listing to a sports report. She deserves that billboard with her picture on it on I35E from Dallas to Denton. I wish they had mentioned in the report that Apogee Stadium was the UNT stadium, not just the stadium in Denton. For those that don't know this, it sounded like it was the Denton ISD stadium. ..

I also remember that trip well. I remember being surprised how far out of town the stadium was and the fact that they sold mixed drinks there..

Take the Green Line to Victory Station. Hope this last line in the Victory Park promo is a prediction of the bowl game results....GO MEAN GREEN!

The team and coaches did their part in getting to a bowl game. If is up to us fans to do our part and get people into the seats. That's what it means to be part of the Mean Green Nation, so let's not get sidetracked about not playing who we expected and let's get this thing going in a positive direction. The team needs to take care of getting the victory on the field and the fans need to take care of providing the proper support. After all, how many of you really thought we would even be in a bowl game at the beginning of the year? Let's enjoy what we have and see it as a stepping stone to better things in the future. GO MEAN GREEN! I'll be at the Cotton Bowl supporting you! Life is good.........

We have wins against Rice and UTEP and loss to UTSA.... Do you see loss to UTSA affecting our recruiting against them this year?

Good turnout for the Women's Tennis Banquet tonight....Coach Lama, Coach Zimmerman and the ladies on the team do a great job of cultivating fan support. It is always touching to hear Coach Lama read his letters to the seniors and for them to speak about their experiences as student-athletes at UNT. And I do mean student-athletes....the women's tennis team led all athletic teams at UNT in the fall GPA with a 3.55 average! This is remarkable, especially since all the players are from countries outside the U.S. and English is not their native language. Special Awards tonight went to: Scholar-Athlete Award (tie); Ilona Serchenko (senior) and Valetina Starkova (senior) Strength & Conditioning Award: Augustina Valenzuela (freshman) Most Improved Player: Franziska Sprinkmeyer (sophomore) Player to Watch: Kseniya Bardabush (sophomore) Catalina Cruz Spirit Award: Dane' Jourbet (freshman) Most Valuable Player: Barbora Vykydalova (senior) Sun Belt Champions 2 consecutive years and 3 of the last 4 Team made up of 3 seniors, 0 juniors, 2 sophomores and 4 freshmen NCAA Tournament Selection Watch Party: Tuesday, 4:00 at Club Level of Apogee Stadium GO MEAN GREEN!

Agree....seniors have upped their games from last year and are solid, but we haven't been able to win at the top spots against the really good teams. Of course our #1 player is just a sophomore so that may come with a couple of more years of experience. The freshmen really need to improve to take over the spots of the three seniors who are currently playing at the number 2, 3, and 4 slots. The good thing is that most of Coach Llama's girls do improve every year. But having a really top recruit would make a big difference. Wind conditions against TCU were terrible so it is difficult to know whether or not either team played to its true ability. Upcoming matches against more ranked teams will be a good test of where we stand before conference play begins. Go Mean Green!

Thanks for the update...saved me from having to look it up. It will be a tough match against TCU...hope it is not too cold or windy at 2:00!

UNT Tennis, ranked #57, topped #30 Arizona for a great win in Denton today by a score of 4-3. Taking the doubles point proved to be big and the match was tied 3-3 awaiting conclusion of the final contest. UNT freshman Agustina Valenzuela, who uses a two-handed forehand and backhand, came back to win the 3rd set (6-4, 5-7, 7-5) to clinch the victory. Lots of pressure for a freshman to lose the second set, but come back to win it with everything riding on her racket. Next up for UNT Tennis: #28 TCU at Denton at 2:00 on Wednesday. It should be another great match--see you there! GO MEAN GREEN!

Interesting week for the Lady Eagles Tennis Team, ranked #57 as of Feb.19th (down from #56)...Arizona (Tied for #30, up from #33) on Saturday and TCU (#28, up from #34) on Wednesday. Beating either team would be a great win for the ladies....whoever has the most depth will hold the edge. I have watched several matches and we have great physical strength if we can keep in the matches early. I can't make the match on Saturday but hope to make the TCU match on Wednesday. Come out and support the team if you can....free admission and crowd support may make the difference since these are home matches against tough competition! Go Mean Green!

Has the date and time of the first round been announced?