Sun Belt Championships Information

DENTON, Texas (4/18/09) - Fourth-seeded North Texas will play its first 2009 SBC Tournament match against the fifth-seeded Troy Trojans on Saturday at 3 P.M. from the Waranch Tennis Complex. . 

Troy defeated No. 12 FAU 4-0 on Friday to advance. The Mean Green's previous meeting against the Trojans was two years ago at the SBC Championships in Denton where Troy won 4-0.

The championships are being held at two sites: (1) the Waranch Tennis Complex on the campus of North Texas and (2) the Goldfield Tennis Center approximately two miles from the NT campus. (The weekend schedule for the men and women is below) 

The top three seeds for the women are Denver, FIU, and South Alabama who are all nationally ranked. The Pioneers are currently No. 34, followed by the Golden Panthers at 37 and the Jaguars at 47. FIU defeated North Texas 4-2 on March 1.

The Mean Green tennis team is currently enjoying one of its best seasons in recent years. The squad has already reached its best win total since the 1984-85 season with 16 victories. The team is also riding a nine-match win streak including victories over UTEP, New Mexico State, Central Florida, and Rice. Freshmen Irina Paraschiv and Paula Dinuta have been selected the SBC Women’s Player of the Week and five singles players and one doubles team have recorded at least 12 wins this year. The future looks bright as seven of the nine total players are freshmen and sophomores.

Last year, the No. 51 FlU Golden Panthers defeated North Texas in the Sun Belt Tournament quarterfinals. The 2007-08 campaign for NT was one of the best turnaround seasons in the country. The Mean Green finished ’06-07 with a dismal 2-19 record, but rebounded to go 13-9 (59.1 percent) in 07-08. This was the best win percentage by an NT team since 1986-87 and the fourth-best overall.

North Texas previously hosted the 2007 SBC Tennis Championships.