Drcc Tennis Rebuilt Nt Tennis Ready For Season

OldTimer · September 15, 2007

Tennis: Rebuilt UNT tennis ready for season

09:14 AM CDT on Friday, September 14, 2007

By Brett Vito / Staff Writer

Rachel Wilhelm could sense a difference in the perception of the North Texas tennis team while playing on the college circuit last summer.

Wilhelm never heard much about UNT when she was a standout at Coppell or during her time at Arkansas, but was constantly asked about the school and the changes going on with the program after she decided to transfer to play for the Mean Green.

UNT built the $3 million Waranch Tennis Pavilion in 2005, brought on a new coaching staff before last season and remade its roster for the upcoming campaign. Those changes are expected to help the Mean Green develop into a regional power.

The next step in the process comes today when UNT hosts the Mean Green Invitational.

“People are scared of us and want to know what will happen,” Wilhelm said. “We are ready to go out there and answer them. There is a buzz out there about this team. People ask about North Texas and what is going on here.”

The excitement is based partly on head coach Sujay Lama’s first recruiting class. UNT brought in a handful of the top players in Texas to go along with a few international stars and transfers.

Freshman Narine Kazarova was ranked as the ninth-best recruit in the state by tennisrecruiting.net last season, while Wilhelm was ranked fifth by the same service in 2005. The duo is one reason UNT’s recruiting class is ranked 18th among mid-major programs nationally.

Lama had a chance to remake his roster after UNT lost several players to graduation or injury after last season, his first with the program.

UNT will know better how the players in Lama’s first recruiting class will fit in after this weekend’s tournament, which will include UT-Arlington, Sam Houston State, SMU, Texas Tech, Army, Tyler Junior College and Abilene Christian.

“What we have now compared to what we had last year is night and day,” Lama said. “It’s a completely new makeup and a new level of talent. These kids are winners who have won on the national and international levels. You can’t teach that.”

Senior Idalina Franca and junior Sammie Morton are the only players who returned from last season’s team.

Franca was among UNT’s best players last season, but had to play in the top three spots in the Mean Green’s lineup and finished with a 12-16 record. This season, Franca will play closer to the bottom of UNT’s six singles slots in what will be a more balanced lineup.

“All the girls are good this year,” Franca said. “We are all at the same level, we just have different games and different types of experience. Any one of us could play No. 1 singles.”

That balance has created fierce competition for spots in the Mean Green’s lineup, but hasn’t prevented UNT from developing team chemistry early in the season.

“We are all supporting each other already,” Wilhelm said. “We are all new, so we are all in the same boat.”

UNT’s coaches and players expect that chemistry to pay off not only today, but in the spring season as well.

“Our goal this year is to crack the national rankings,” Lama said. “The top 75 teams out of 250-plus are ranked. The program has never had a ranked team. We are capable of being in the top 75 and have a chance to be a top-four team in the conference.”

BRETT VITO can be reached at 940-566-6870. His e-mail address is bvito@dentonrc.com.