DENTON — The North Texas tennis team is back home for a pair of matches this weekend but they have been moved to indoor locations due to impeding weather conditions.

The Mean Green (3-3), coming off a 4-0 win over UTEP last Saturday, will host Sam Houston State on Friday at 1:30 p.m. and WKU on Saturday at 5:30 p.m.

Friday's match will be hosted at Life Time Fitness in Plano and Saturday's match will be at Las Colinas Country Club. 

The Intercollegiate Tennis Association came out with new rankings on Wednesday and North Texas' doubles team of Tamuna Kutubidze and Maria Kononova earned a program best No. 19 national ranking. The pair, which has collected 55 wins in their three and a half years in Denton, is by far the highest ranked team in Conference USA. Kononova and Kutubidze rank 32 spots higher than the next highest C-USA team, which comes from Rice. 

Kutubidze is also the highest ranked singles player in the league at No. 69.

Against the Miners, the Mean Green bounced back and overcame lots of obstacles to pick up the shutout win in what was their first league match. 

"We are improving and evolving each day and I see growth in all areas," said head coach Sujay Lama. "We are working on our competitive drive and aggressive mind set on game days."

This season, North Texas is 3-1 against schools from Texas. Along with its win over UTEP, UNT beat Lamar, 6-1, on Jan. 26 and Abilene Christian, 7-0, on Jan. 15.

Kutubdize leads the team with a 5-1 singles record and has been positioned in the lineup at No. 1 recently.

Friday will be a big test for her and her Mean Green teammates as SHSU also has three wins against Texas schools including a 5-2 win over Conference USA's UTSA last Friday in Huntsville, Texas. 
 
"Sam Houston is a gritty team and well coached team," Lama explained. "We expect a great battle so we have to be prepared to go from the get go."

Saturday will pin two of the best C-USA schools against one another as WKU has been a program on the rise.

Both the Mean Green and Hilltoppers reached the quarterfinals of the 2018 C-USA Tournament. 
 
"It's good to see another conference opponent early in the season and keep the momentum going in conference play," Lama said. 

North Texas enters this set of matches with a four-match home winning streak. 

Life Time Fitness in Plano is located at 7100 Preston Rd, Plano, TX 75024
Las Colinas Country Club is located at 4400 N O'Connor Rd, Irving, TX 75062