HOUSTON (April 19, 2019) – FIU's bid to repeat as C-USA Champions fell short on Friday, as North Texas took a 4-3 decision over the Panthers in the quarterfinals of the 2019 Air Force Reserve Conference USA Women's Tennis Championships.

With the loss, FIU (11-8) wraps up its season and the Mean Green advance to the semifinal round of the championships where they will take on Old Dominion. 

The afternoon opened up hopeful as the Panthers secured the doubles point and held a 3-1 advantage late, but North Texas (13-10) rallied to capture a 4-3 victory over the Panthers.  

The No. 44 ranked freshman duo of Basak Akbas and Kamila Umarova dominated 6-0 for the first victory, before Sandra Bozinovic and Maria Turrillo went on to clinch the Panthers first point with a 6-1 win. 

Senior Maryna Veksler dropped her match to open singles action, but a victory from Akbas gave the Panthers a 2-1 advantage. Bozinovic went on to win on court four and push the lead 3-1. The Mean Green began their rally with a pair of three-set wins over Umarova and Turrillo to make it 3-all, before North Texas took a three-set match over Bakaite on court five to take the 4-3 victory. 

Singles competition
1. Maria Kononova (UNT) def. Veksler,Maryna (FIU) 6-3, 6-4
2. Tamuna Kutubidze (UNT) def. Umarova,Kamila (FIU) 6-1, 6-7 (4-7), 6-4
3. Akbas,Basak (FIU) def. Minying Liang (UNT) 2-6, 6-0, 6-0
4. Bozinovic,Sandra (FIU) def. Alexandra Heczey (UNT) 7-5, 3-6, 6-2
5. Nidhi Surapaneni (UNT) def. Bakaite,Paulina (FIU) 7-6 (7-4), 6-7 (3-7), 6-3
6. Ivana Babic (UNT) def. Turrillo,Maria (FIU) 5-7, 7-5, 6-3

Doubles competition
1. #44 Akbas,Basak/Umarova,Kamila (FIU) def. Maria Kononova/Tamuna Kutubidze (UNT) 6-0
2. Bozinovic,Sandra/Turrillo,Maria (FIU) def. Ivana Babic/Alexandra Heczey (UNT) 6-1
3. Veksler,Maryna/Bakaite,Paulina (FIU) vs. Minying Liang/Nidhi Surapaneni (UNT) 5-2, unfinished

Match Notes:
North Texas 13-10
FIU Panthers 11-8
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2); Singles (1,3,4,2,6,5)