MOBILE, Alabama - Mean Green tennis advanced to the semifinals of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament Friday morning as it defeated No. 5 seed Arkansas State 4-0 at the Mobile Tennis Center.

North Texas (10-11) started the day by taking two out of the three doubles matches and the doubles point.

"We played a solid match today," said head coach Sujay Lama. "We started a little slow in doubles but found a way to win the doubles point. Singles play was outstanding today."

Court three was the first match to finish, with Madura Ranganathan and Paula Dinuta fighting off the Red Wolves' (10-7) Jenny Herring and Menna Kamal for the 8-6 victory.

After leading by as many as four games on court two, the Arkansas State duo of Janie Nowland and Biljana Milosheveska captured the victory over the pesky Nadia Lee and Amy Joubert 9-7.

The No. 1 doubles match sealed the point for North Texas as Irina Paraschiv and Barbora Vykydalova disposed of Emily Crowe and Ioana Teu 8-6.

Singles saw the Mean Green take firm control of the match.

Joubert dominated the Red Wolves' Kamal at the No. 6 slot, winning easily, 6-0, 6-2.

From there, Paraschiv took the second singles match for North Texas at the No. 2 spot, shooting down ASU's Herring 6-2, 6-2.

Lee, the junior transfer, sealed the win for the Mean Green as she won her first career SBC Tournament match 6-3, 6-3.

"We are excited about tomorrow," Lama added. "It should be a great match and we are looking forward to the challenge."

North Texas will take on the No. 1 overall seed FIU Saturday morning at 9 a.m. at the Bruce David Lubel Memorial Tennis Courts on the campus of the University of South Alabama in a rematch of last year's SBC Championship match.

Tennis Match Results
Arkansas State vs North Texas
Apr 22, 2011 at Mobile, Ala.
(Mobile Tennis Center)
North Texas 4, Arkansas State 0

Singles competition
1. Barbora Vykydalova (NT) vs. Emily Crowe (ASU) 6-2, 4-2, unfinished
2. Irina Parschiv (NT) def. Jenny Herring (ASU) 6-2, 6-2
3. Paula Dinuta (NT) vs. Janie Nowland (ASU) 5-7, 6-1, 1-1, unfinished
4. Nadia Lee (NT) def. Biljana Miloshevska (ASU) 6-3, 6-3
5. Madura Ranganathan (NT) vs. Ioana Teu (ASU) 6-3, 3-3, unfinished
6. Amy Joubert (NT) def. Menna Kamal (ASU) 6-0, 6-2
Doubles competition
1. Barbora Vykydalova/Irina Parschiv (NT) def. Emily Crowe/Ioana Teu (ASU) 8-6
2. Janie Nowland/Biljana Miloshevska (ASU) def. Nadia Lee/Amy Joubert (NT) 9-7
3. Madura Ranganathan/Paula Dinuta (NT) def. Jenny Herring/Menna Kamal (ASU) 8-6

Match Notes:
Arkansas State 10-7
North Texas 10-11
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (6,2,4)