DENTON, Texas (3/9/09) - The Lamar Cardinals visit Denton this week to face the North Texas tennis team at the Waranch Tennis Complex on Tuesday at 3 P.M.
“At this time of the year we are trying to find a way to gain confidence at every spot," said Mean Green head coach Sujay Lama. "It’s important to stay on a roll and build momentum. Lamar is a well coached team that won their conference last year and made it to NCAA’s. We have to be ready to match their intensity and build on the win we had over UTEP.”
North Texas (8-5, 2-1) won going away against the Texas-El Paso Miners 6-1 this past Saturday in Denton. The squad took the doubles point and won five of six matches in singles including a three-set tiebreak victory for Catalina Cruz and wins at the top two spots for Irina Paraschiv and Madura Ranganathan.
The Lamar Cardinals are the defending Southland Conference Champions and have a 5-3 record this season with a 3-1 mark in conference play. The Cards earned a berth in the NCAA Tournament last year and were defeated by Fresno State in the first round. This year's squad has wins over three Texas schools (Sam Houston State, Stephen F. Austin, and Texas State) and losses to Rice and UT-Arlington. Lamar has also played a Sun Belt team in Louisiana-Monroe who beat the Cardinals earlier in the season. Lamar is led by the Gutierrez sisters, Mariaryeni and Mariantonieta, who play at the No. 1 and 2 positions in singles and make a formidable doubles team as well. Carla Nava and Manijee Ashrafi are also players to watch for.
NT holds an 8-4 edge in the all-time series with the last match taking place in 2001 where the Mean Green won 6-1 in Denton.
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