DENTON, Texas - No. 34 Denver defeated No. 97 North Texas, 4-2, in semifinal action today at the Sun Belt Conference Tournament. DU improves to 16-4 with its eighth consecutive win and advances to this afternoon's final against Florida International.

North Texas, playing on its home court, gave the Pioneers all they could handle in the match that last close to five hours.

DU won the doubles point with wins at No. 3 and No. 1. Bhavani Tirumurti (Jakarta, Indonesia) and Annette Aksdal (Oslo, Norway) won 8-3 at No. 3, while Kyla Iwinski (Marietta, Ga.) and Mallory Voelker (Dousman, Wis.) won 8-4 at No. 1.

After Ute Schnoy (Altenstadt, Germany) gave DU a 2-0 lead with a win at No. 3 singles, the match heated up when North Texas tied it at 2-2 with wins at No. 4 and No. 6.

DU took a 3-2 lead when Aksdal won in straight sets at No. 2 and clinched the win when Voelker won in three sets at No. 1 singles.

DU and Florida International will battle for the championship today at 4 p.m.