DALLAS — After rain delays and change of locations, the North Texas tennis team collected itself and beat UTEP 4-0 on Saturday night at SMU's indoor facility. The match was shortened to just singles play due to the early changes. 

The Mean Green (3-3) won all four singles matches in straight sets and were leading on courts No. 3 and No. 4 when the match was called. 

The match was clinched by junior Ivana Babic after she beat her Miners opponent 6-1, 6-3 at the No. 6 position. The coaches were extremely impressed with her performance after the match.

"I am happy that I have had an opportunity to play and get the win for my team," Babic said. "I played a very good match and I was able to contribute to the overall win of the team."

The win was a bounce back performance for UNT and showed the depth of the team that they expect to be a strength of the team as the season progresses into the spring.

Seniors Maria Kononova, Minying Liang and Tamuna Kutubidze carry the team as its leaders and on Saturday they showed it on the court. Kononova furiously controlled her match with a 6-1, 6-3 win at No. 2 spot in the lineup. Kutubidze improved to 5-1 on the year as she raced past her UTEP opponent 6-4, 6-2. Meanwhile Liang had the quickest match on the day, winning 6-1, 6-3 and putting North Texas in position to a strong performance as she got the team's first win.

Saturday was North Texas' first match of the year against a Conference USA opponent. They'll play six more conference matches throughout the season. 

North Texas will be back at it on Friday Feb. 8 when they host Sam Houston State at 2 p.m.

SINGLES
Kutubidze (UNT) def. Prelle (UTEP); 6-4, 6-2
Kononova (UNT) def. Valdez (UTEP); 6-1. 6-3
Surapaneni (UNT) v. Martinez (UTEP); 7-5 unfinished 
Heczey (UNT) v. Percegona (UTEP); 6-1, 5-4 unfinished
Liang (UNT) def. Nozaki (UTEP); 6-1, 6-3
Babic (UNT) def. Van Oijen (UTEP); 6-1, 6-3