SURPRISE, Arizona — Mean Green tennis' Tamuna Kutubidze and Maria Kononvoa begin their run for a fall national doubles championship Wednesday at 5:00 p.m. from the Arizona desert.
The UNT seniors who earned an automatic bid to the tournament by winning the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Texas Regional will play their first-round match against Oklahoma State's Sofia Blanco and Lisa Marie Rioux who are the tournament's No. 7 seed and are the No. 24 nationally ranked team.
A win on Wednesday would mark the first time in program history that a UNT doubles team reached the round of 16 in the iTA's fall championship tournament.
"We are happy to be here again," Kononova said. "We believe that our experience from last year will help us to raise our level and play great tennis."
Kononova and Kutubidze earned an at-large bid last year to the tournament but lost in the first round to a Georgia team. Kononova got a little extra work when she got to compete in the singles draw but lost a heartbreaking first round singles match to the No. 11 ranked player in the nation from Miami.
However, this year there is a difference.
The momentum North Texas is bringing into the tournament is at an all-time high.
Not only are Kutubidze and Kononova only a few weeks removed from their incredible run in the Texas Regional that is arguably the greatest single tournament performance in program history, but the level of play they're playing at is far better than this time last year.
Kutubidze is playing her best tennis and has been rewarded for it by being named the Conference USA Female Tennis Athlete of the Month in back-to-back months, September and October.
"We prepared well for this tournament, Kutubidze said referencing practice and the Texas Regional. "We have been there before so now we just have to trust ourselves and do what we do the best."
The tournament has moved from Indian Wells, California, to Surprise, Arizona, which is a suburb of Phoenix. The change of location doesn't seem to bother the women as they feel right at home playing next to one another for at least one final year.
The two Mean Green tennis players who without question will go down in program history as two of the best at UNT, have another opportunity to further solidify that by making a run in nationals.
"We know we can beat anyone when we play our game," Kutubidze said following North Texas' regional win. "We are champion minded."
A championship this week would once again write the two's names in a UNT record book that is already littered with it.
If the Mean Green team reaches the final round, their match will be aired live on national broadcast on ESPN3 and later on ESPNU. Live scoring for all the matches can be found here.