PLANO, Texas — Red-hot North Texas cooled off the Northwestern State tennis team Friday, securing a hard-fought doubles point to start a 4-0 victory in NSU's last match before starting Southland Conference competition.

It was the first loss in seven matches for the Lady Demons (6-2), as they fell to 1-2 in road matches. Weather moved the match indoors to courts at Lifetime Fitness in Plano, near the UNT campus in Denton.

North Texas (7-4) won for the fifth time in its last six matches, with four coming via shutout. The Mean Green blanked Arizona 4-0 in their most recent match before hosting the Lady Demons.

"North Texas outplayed us today," head coach Patric DuBois said. "We played pretty good doubles to lose a tough point, but then they had us on our heels in singles."

The day started with NSU dropping its first doubles point of the season. UNT won the only matches that finished. At the No. 3 spot, juniors Judit Castillo Gargallo and Emilija Dancetovic lost for the first time this spring, a tough 6-4 decision to UNT's Nidhi Surapaneni and Minying Liang.

At No. 1, sophomore Patrycja Polanska and freshman Rhea Verma lost 6-1 to UNT's nationally ranked tandem of Tamuna Kutubidze and Maria Kononova.

In singles competition, the Mean Green posted a trio of straight set triumphs to lock up the outcome. NSU's highlight came in a match that didn't register in the final score.

Returning Southland Conference Player of the Year Polina Mutel, playing at No. 1 singles for the first time this year after playing there all last year, went toe-to-tie against Kutubidze, who is ranked No. 57 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings. The Lady Demon senior recovered from a 6-2 first-set loss to prevail 6-4, forcing a third set before it was called due to the Mean Green claiming the necessary four points to claim the overall match victory.

After dropping all of the first sets, all but one by wide margins, the Lady Demons bounced back in the second sets and either led or won two of them. DuBois liked the way his team fought, but bemoaned the slow start.

"We played better as the matches went along, but it was too late," DuBois said. "You cannot start slow against good teams."

At No. 5, Castillo Gargallo dropped her first singles match of the year after starting the season 6-0. Liang, who is ranked No. 114 nationally in the ITA rankings, won 6-0, 6-4.

Verma and junior Ela Iwaniuk had their five-match winning streaks snapped in straight sets. At No. 2, Verma lost 6-4, 6-1 to Kononova, who has the most singles victories in the history of the UNT program. Iwaniuk lost 6-3, 6-3 to Surapaneni in the fourth slot.

Matches were unfinished in the first, third and sixth positions.

The Lady Demons return to the court next Friday at 1 p.m. when they open Southland Conference play at home against defending co-champion Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
 

North Texas 4, Northwestern State 0 Women's Tennis at Plano, Texas – Lifetime Fitness
Singles
1. Polina Mutel (NSU) vs. Tamuna Kutubidze (UNT) 2-6, 6-4, UF
2. Maria Kononova (UNT) def. Rhea Verma 6-4, 6-1
3. Patrycja Polanska (NSU) vs. Alexandra Heczey 0-6, UF
4. Nidhi Surapaneni (UNT) def. Ela Iwaniuk 6-3, 6-3
5. Minying Liang (UNT) def. Judit Castillo Gargallo 6-0, 6-4
6. Emilija Dancetovic (NSU) vs. Ivana Babic 2-6, UF

Doubles
1. Tamuna Kutubidze/Maria Kononova (UNT) def. Patrycja Polanska/Rhea Verma 6-1
2. Polina Mutel/Ela Iwaniuk (NSU) vs. Alexandra Heczey/Ivana Babic UF
3. Nidhi Surapaneni/Minying Liang (UNT) def. Judit Castillo Gargallo/Emilija Dancetovic 6-4
 

Match Notes:
Northwestern State 6-2
North Texas: 7-4
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3); Singles (5,3,2)