Tennis Tops #75 Kansas

Zeleny' Orel · March 28, 2015

The Mean Green Women's Tennis Team played well Friday afternoon and beat #75 Kansas 4-3. The match was actually clinched by UNT at 4-1, but the final two singles matches were played out and Kansas won both to bring the score to 4-3. UNT won the doubles point to take a 1-0 lead, followed by singles wins by Shestakova (#2 slot) in two sets, Sprinkmeyer (#5 slot) in two sets, and Galieva (#6 slot) in three sets. The 3 UNT singles losses were all close 3-set matches. UNT is 4-0 against Kansas in the all-time series.

UNT also beat UAB on Wednesday on an extremely windy day in Denton by a score of 4-1. The match was much closer than the score indicated. Knowing how to handle the Denton wind gave us the advantage.

Playing at home in front of a good crowd helped in both matches. A close loss to UTSA last week in rain-delayed play in San Antonio was a blow to the team's conference record, which Is now 1-1. However, the full schedule has been full of ranked team so the 6-10 record it is somewhat misleading of the team's ability. Most of the matches have been close, but we have had difficulty closing them out.

The next two matches, both in Denton, will be tough. Wednesday we play #20 TCU and Sunday #39 Houston. Winning one of those matches would help us get a better seeding in the conference tournament at Rice on April 16-19. Both Rice and Marshall have a national ranking and should be favorites barring some upsets before tournament time. I think our team is in the upper half of conference teams and could do well. Seeing how we play next week should give us a better idea of how confident the team is at this time.

Also I watched Minying Llang, our recruit from China who enrolled at mid-term, hit with one of our former players. It is hard to tell someone's true ability until they actually compete, but her strokes looked very smooth and powerful. She looks as if she could really be something special. Too bad she is not eligible to play until next fall. She would have definitely helped the team this spring.

GO MEAN GREEN!

untbowler · March 28, 2015

hard to tell where the team sits right now, they play some tight matches but then throw in some questionable losses, the UTSA loss will be a tough one come seeding time.

Rice and Marshall probably 1/2, but after that who knows, UTSA beat UNT, but MTSU, FIU, UAB all beat UTSA.

There is no consistency from match to match. beat Kansas but lose to UTSA and NW State

They can be anywhere from 4 seed to an 8 seed depending on coaches meeting.

blurbeard · March 28, 2015

hard to tell where the team sits right now, they play some tight matches but then throw in some questionable losses, the UTSA loss will be a tough one come seeding time.
Rice and Marshall probably 1/2, but after that who knows, UTSA beat UNT, but MTSU, FIU, UAB all beat UTSA.
There is no consistency from match to match. beat Kansas but lose to UTSA and NW State
They can be anywhere from 4 seed to an 8 seed depending on coaches meeting.

Good points. I'm thinking on the seeds it will be: Rice being a heavy #1 seed followed by Marshall, MTSU, UTSA and then us getting the 5th seed.

untbowler · March 28, 2015

Good points. I'm thinking on the seeds it will be: Rice being a heavy #1 seed followed by Marshall, MTSU, UTSA and then us getting the 5th seed.

Think MTSU or ODU at #3/4 range, UTSA losing to UTEP,UAB and FIU will push them down. I would prefer getting the 3 or 6 seed an stay away from Rice half.

Would not want to be on the seeding committee this, although I honestly think the girls are closer to a 3 seed talent wise versus 4-6, but results just not there.

Zeleny' Orel · March 28, 2015

Too bad the UNT-Middle Tennessee match at San Antonio was cancelled last weekend due to heavy rains (I guess UTSA doesn't have indoor courts either). It might have clarified the seeding somewhat. I agree that the team has some bad losses this year, along with some good wins. It would be an upset to win against either TCU or Houston so the record will probably not improve. Remaining matches against UTA (always a tough match for us and it is at UTA) and South Alabama (in Denton) could be wins. Hopefully, the strength of schedule will play in our favor. I think a 5th or 6th seed is probable unless we pull some upsets or have some terrible losses the remaining two weeks.

.

Of course, we could win all four and finish 10-10 for the year1

GO MEAN GREEN!