FORT WORTH — Maria Kononova and Tamuna Kutubidze of the North Texas tennis team lost in the semifinals of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s Texas Regional Monday at TCU.

The No. 22 nationally ranked and the tournament’s No. 1seeded doubles team lost in one of the closest matches of the young fall season. Kononova and Kutubidze fell 6-7(10), 6-3, 7-5 to Texas — the No. 8-seed. 

“Tamuna and Maria gave it their all in doubles,” said head coach Sujay Lama. “It was a great match that came down to the wire. They are disappointed but from this loss they will learn from it and become a better team.”

It’s second straight season the North Texas juniors reached the semifinals of the Texas Regional and only the third time in program history a doubles team made it that far. 

In singles draw, Kononova also lost in the semifinals. The No. 3-seeded and No. 41 nationally ranked player lost to the top-seeded and No. 24 nationally ranked player Bianca Turati also of Texas, 6-0, 6-1.

This was the first time in program history a Mean Green tennis player had reached the semifinals of the tournament’s singles draw.

“Maria’s incredible run came to an end today against one of the best players in the nation who never let up from the start,” Lama said.

In total, the Mean Green as a team won 12 matches in the main draws, which is four more than they won last year in the ITA Texas Regional.

This fall, Kononova and Kutubidze have posted a 6-2 record in doubles. Kononova is 8-2 in singles this fall. In addition to their success at the Texas Regional, they won the Milwaukee Tennis Classic doubles draw and Kononova became the first Mean Green tennis player to reach the second round of the ITA All-American Tournament.

“I’m incredibly proud of their effort, fight and most importantly their development,” Lama said. “It’s exciting to see them continue breaking new barriers and raising the bar for the program.”

North Texas next plays in the River Oaks Country Club Invite from Nov. 3 to No. 5 from Houston.