Oct. 18, 2001

Chicago, Ill. - The UIC men's tennis team improved to 2-0 on the season as they slipped past Chicago State, 4-3, under blustery conditions on Thursday afternoon.

With the Cougars defaulting in both the No. 6 singles and No. 3 doubles, the Flames had a decided advantage in the match, but they still had to fight off a valiant effort by Chicago State and endure gusting winds up to 25 miles per hour to secure the victory.

UIC took the early lead in the contest, getting the default at No. 3 doubles then taking the point after the tandem of junior Nick Bodmer and sophomore Jon Schmidt outlasted Gates and Lager in the No.1 match, 8-6.

With the Flames up 2-0 in singles play after the Cougars default at the No. 6 spot, Bodmer and Wade Clark came through with clutch wins to give UIC the victory.

Clark cruised past Chicago State's James, 6-1, 6-0, in the No. 5 spot, then Bodmer came through with the match-clinching victory, dismantling Liger in the No. 1 spot, 6-1, 6-1.

"It was a drill in mental toughness," Bodmer remarked on the match played under the windy conditions.

The Flames will now take a hiatus on dual match play until next year with their next scheduled contest taking place on January 23, 2002, at Marquette. Bodmer and Schmidt will compete individually, though, at the upcoming ITA Regional Championships October 26-28, in East Lansing, Mich. Bodmer will compete in the singles championship while Bodmer and Schmidt will represent UIC as a doubles tandem.

FINAL RESULTS

UIC 4, Chicago State 3

Singles

No. 1 - Nick Bodmer (UIC) def. Liger (CSU) 6-1, 6-1

No. 2 - Gates (CSU) def. Jon Schmidt (UIC) 6-4, 6-3

No. 3 - Mukherjee (CSU) def. Ken Howrey (UIC) 6-1, 6-3

No. 4 - Moore (CSU) def. Amol Desai (UIC) 6-3, 6-3

No. 5 - Wade Clark (UIC) def. James (CSU) 6-1, 6-0

No. 6 - Wil Karydakis def. (Default)

Doubles

No. 1 - Bodmer/Schmidt (UIC) def. Gates/Liger (CSU) 8-6

No. 2 - Moore/Mukherjee (CSU) def. Howrey/Desai (UIC) 8-6

No. 3 - Clark/Karydakis def. (Default)