Tennis team opens fall play at North Texas
9/17/2010 9:07:00 AM | Women's Tennis
The event is hosted by the University of North Texas and will be held daily at the Waranch Tennis Complex in Denton.
The tournament will consist of three singles and three doubles flights, with individual championships award in each flight. Other teams playing in the Mean Green Classic at SMU, Northwestern State, Stephen F. Austin, UTSA, Tyler Junior College and host North Texas.
"This is going to be a good test for our young team," Sam Houston head coach Jim Giachino said. "Everyone is looking forward to the opportunity to see how we play against outside competition."
Returning letter winners from last year's Sam Houston squad that went 7-4 in Southland Conference dual match play to finish fifth in the league include sophomores Tatyana Posnikova, Nadya Dubyanskaya and Sheridan Currie and senior Cally Woerner.
Newcomers include Anrinette Botha, Imke Jagau, Natalie Petaia and Kayla Stevenson.
"This group is such a pleasure to work with and they're really excited to be heading to their first tournament," Giachino said. "There is much to look forward to this year. Our goals are to enjoy the process, push ourselves and improve each day. We have had incredible practices the last two weeks and we hope to transfer that to match play."
The Bearkat roster reads like a United Nations. Dubyanskaya and Posnikova are from Russia, Currie, Petala and Stevenson from Australia, Botha from South Africa, Jajau from Nambia and Woerner from Texas.
The North Texas event is the first of five tournaments in which the Bearkats will participate this fall. Other tournaments include the Stephen F. Austin Invitational Oct. 1-2, the Tyler tournament Oct. 15-16, the ITA Regionals at Baylor Oct. 22-26 and the University of Houston Cougar Classic Nov. 5-7.
