April 16, 2000

Chicago, Ill. - With the match squared at 4-4, Jacki Farr battled back for a three-set triumph in the No. 1 singles match, helping the UIC women's tennis team squeak past Butler, 5-4, in the Flames' regular-season finale.

"I felt we were in good shape there at the end, with two of our best fighters (Farr, Alyson Stalzer) out there," Head Coach Mary Dailey said of her team being up 4-3 with two matches remaining. "You could tell they started to feel the pressure, but Jacki won because she was more aggressive than her opponent at the end."

Playing in the final home match of her career, Emina Curic made news of her own on Sunday, becoming UIC's all-time leader in singles victories with her 6-2, 6-2 win in the No. 2 singles contest. The senior passed former Flame Sara Jackson for the top spot with 82 career singles victories to her credit.

The Flames, who finished the regular season with a 8-12 record, 3-0 in the MCC, jumped out to an early lead in the match believed by most to be a preview of the conference finals, taking two of the three doubles contests. Farr and Nicole Derouin (8-3/No. 1), as well as Curic and Zorica Malesevic (8-5/No. 2) helped UIC to a 2-1 advantage.

In singles play, Zvjezdana Malesevic put the Flames up 3-1 with a 6-2, 6-4 triumph in the No. 5 slot, but Butler quickly got itself right back in the match with wins in the No. 3 and No. 6 contests to knot the score at 3-3.

Curic's win in the No. 2 position put UIC up 4-3, placing the pressure on Alyson Stalzer and Jacki Farr to win one of the two remaining matches to secure the victory.

Stalzer, competing in the No. 4 slot, came back from a set down and had several swings at match point, but BU's Molly Figel answered the call on every occasion. Figel eventually broke through for the Bulldogs, prevailing in a third-set tiebreaker to even the score at 4-4.

All eyes then moved to the No. 1 singles fray, in which Farr overcame a 6-2 loss in the opening set with a tiebreaker win in set two, before giving the Flames the victory as she closed out the third set 6-3.

UIC now looks to capture its fourth consecutive MCC title, April 29-30, in Indianapolis, Ind. The winner of the conference championship earns an automatic bid into the 2000 NCAA Women's Tennis Tournament.

Match Results

Singles
No. 1: Jacki Farr (UIC) def. Pamela Rodriguez (BU) 2-6, 7-6(5), 6-3No. 2: Emina Curic (UIC) def. Olivia Pedro (BU) 6-2, 6-2No. 3: Amy Steiner (BU) def. Nicole Derouin (UIC) 1-6, 6-4, 6-3No. 4: Molly Figel (BU) def. Alyson Stalzer (UIC) 7-5, 3-6, 7-6(5)No. 5: Zvjezdana Malesevic (UIC) def. Sarah Karges (BU) 6-2, 6-4No. 6: Lisa Valle (BU) def. Karen Liwanpo (UIC) 6-3, 6-2

Doubles
No. 1: Farr/Derouin (UIC) def. Pedro/Rodriguez (BU) 8-3No. 2: Curic/Zorica (UIC) Figel/Steiner (BU) 8-5No. 3: Karges/Jill Kenamond def. Harris/Stalzer (UIC) 8-5