HOUSTON — The North Texas tennis team's fall season is upon us and it starts in familiar territory against some of the nation's best.
Seven of the eight Mean Green women are headed to Rice to play in the Rice Invite this Friday through Sunday in Houston.
This will be the first competition of the 2018-19 year for the team and will pin them against some steep nationally ranked competition from opponents such as Alabama, South Florida, SMU, Houston, Maryland, host school Rice and more.
"It would be nice to get out to a good quick start at our first event and set the tone for the entire year," said associate head North Texas tennis coach Jeff Hammond. "Right now each player is undefeated and with hard work and smart play this weekend that could remain the same for those who accept the challenge."
The challenge for some will begin right away.
Senior Tamuna Kutubidze's first singles match in the first flight is against Alabama's Andie Daniell who is ranked No. 70 in the nation in the 2018 preseason poll but has been ranked as high as the top 40 during her time with the Crimson Tide.
This weekend's event will also feature doubles draws where UNT, which is returning every single one of its players from last year and has no newcomers, will see familiar pairings and hopes to start building that strong bond with the pairings before the spring as it has in the past.
UNT doesn't open against any Rice opponent in either singles or doubles and likely won't match up against an Owl competitor often, seeing how the draws have been laid out but it will also give the two schools that have been the most consistent in Conference USA since 2013 — when the Mean Green joined — a chance to feel one another out, though UNT will be without Maria Kononova.
For Mean Green players like Haruka Sasaki, this event will give her a chance to pick up where she left off late in the spring when she was playing her best tennis of her collegiate career and playing with supreme confidence.
Due to potential rain, the event start time has been moved up and will begin Friday at 8:00 a.m.
Follow Mean Green tennis on social media @MeanGreenTennis for updates.