April 28, 2002

Indianapolis, Ind. - Weather conditions wreaked havoc on the Horizon League Tennis Tournament, as inclement conditions moved the first two rounds of competition indoors on Saturday, before Sunday's competition was concluded outdoors in 20-30 mile per hour winds.

The University of Illinois at Chicago men's team finished fourth after the fourth-seeded Flames beat No.5 Youngstown State, 4-1 on Saturday before falling to top-seeded and eventual champion Butler, 4-0, on Sunday.

The Flames were then defeated in the third-place match by No.3 Wright State, 4-1.

Versus Youngstown State, junior Nick Bodmer tied the UIC all-times singles victory mark at 49 with a 7-6(2), 4-6, 6-3 win over Seth Banks. At No.2 singles, Ken Howrey beat Ryen Valentine, 6-3, 7-5, while Neil Ahluwalia won the No.6 singles match by default.

In doubles action, the Flames' No.2 team of Amol Desai and Wade Clark defeated R.J. Pepino and Valentine of YSU, 8-5. UIC's No.3 team of Omar Husain and Will Karydakis won their match by default.

In the semifinals versus Butler, the Flames were outmatched, as the Bulldogs pulled away quickly for the 4-0 win.

On Sunday the competition moved outside, as the Flames battled No.3 Wright State. The defending league champs defeated UIC, 4-1.

Howrey picked-up the Flames' only victory beating Chad Derry, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 in the No.2 singles match.

Hans Neufeld's squad finished the season at 9-16, besting last season's 7-20 mark.