Box Score
DALLAS (SMU) – After falling behind in doubles and trailing before the final two matches, SMU Women's Tennis rallied to take down North Texas, 4-3, Thursday at the SMU Tennis Complex. The Mustangs extend their win streak to five matches with victories in seven of their last eight.
The Mustangs narrowly missed earning the doubles point after securing the first doubles match.
Anzhelika Shapovalova and
Tiffany Hollebeck sailed to a quick 6-3 win at No. 2, but the remaining two matches played to 6-6 scores simultaneously. SMU fell in both tiebreaks to give UNT a 1-0 lead heading to singles play.
Sarai Monarrez Yesaki evened the score for the Mustangs with a 6-1, 6-2 win, her eighth of the season, at No. 5. The Mustangs took the lead on a straight set victory from
Karina Traxler (6-2, 6-3). The junior improves to 13-5 with five wins in her last five decisions.
UNT's top player, No. 57 Maria Kononova, defeated
Liza Buss to keep the match tight. The Mean Green found another point with a win at No. 6, but SMU fought to keep their match streak alive on the final two courts.
Ana Perez-Lopez climbed to her 13
th win of the spring with a 7-6, 7-5 defeat of Alexandra Heczey, and Shapovalova clinched the match with a 7-5, 6-4 win at No. 3 to complete the comeback.
Just one match remains in the regular dual match season. The Mustangs take on Louisiana-Monroe on Saturday at noon before preparing for the American Athletic Conference Championship April 18-21 at the SMU Tennis Complex.
SMU 4, North Texas 3
April 12, 2018 – SMU Tennis Complex
Doubles (Order of finish: 2, 3, 1)
- Maria Kononova / Minying Liang (UNT) def. Karina Traxler / Sarai Monarrez Yesaki (SMU) 7-6 (3)
- Anzhelika Shapovalova / Tiffany Hollebeck (SMU) def. Alexandra Heczey / Nidhi Surapaneni (UNT) 6-3
- Tamuna Kutubidze / Haruka Sasaki (UNT) def. Ana Perez-Lopez / Nicole Petchey (SMU) 7-6 (5)
Singles (Order of finish: 5, 2, 1, 6, 4, 3)
- No. 57 Maria Kononova (UNT) def. Liza Buss (SMU) 7-5, 6-1
- Karina Traxler (SMU) def. Tamuna Kutubidze (UNT) 6-2, 6-3
- Anzhelika Shapovalova (SMU) def. Minying Liang (UNT) 7-5, 6-4
- Ana Perez-Lopez (SMU) def. Alexandra Heczey (UNT) 7-6, 7-5
- Sarai Monarrez Yesaki (SMU) def. Nidhi Surapaneni (UNT) 6-1, 6-2
- Haruka Sasaki (UNT) def. Nicole Petchey (SMU) 6-4, 6-1
