March 21, 2009

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The UIC women's tennis squad was unable to carry the momentum from Friday's win against Bowling Green into Saturday's match at Illinois State, falling 6-1 to the Redbirds this afternoon.

The Flames (5-6) lone doubles and singles victory came courtesy of Ilinca Cristescu, who paired up with Elena Antakova at second doubles to defeat Natalia Lech and Tanja Hrovatic, 8-7 (10-8).

In singles play, the sophomore Cristescu defeated Franziska Steinhardt, 6-1, 3-6, 7-4 for UIC's lone point in the match.

Playing at No. 1 singles, freshman Mariya Kovaleva took the Redbird's Julia Zubkova to a tiebreaker, falling 4-6, 7-6, 10-6 to one of the top players in the Missouri Valley conference.

UIC returns to action on March 29 at home as the Flames open Horizon League play against Milwaukee at 10 a.m.

Tennis Match Results
UIC vs Illinois State
3/21/2009 at Bloomington, Ill.
(Evergreen Racquet Club)
Illinois State 6, UIC 1

Singles competition
1. Zubkova, Julia (ILS) def. Kovaleva, Mariya (UIC) 4-6, 7-6, 10-6
2. Cristescu, Ilinca (UIC) def. Steinhardt,Franziska (ILS) 6-1, 3-6, 7-5
3. Lech, Natalia (ILS) def. McPhillips, Kristen (UIC) 7-5, 6-1
4. Hrovatic, Tanja (ILS) def. Antakova, Elena (UIC) 6-3, 6-3
5. Esker, Hannah (ILS) def. Jellish, Amy (UIC) 6-2, 0-6, 7-5
6. Peters, Carmen (ILS) def. Reisch, Jenna (UIC) 3-6, 6-4, 6-1
Doubles competition
1. Steinhardt,Franziska/Zubkova, Julia (ILS) def. Kovaleva, Mariya/McPhillips, Kristen (UIC) 8-5
2. Cristescu, Ilinca/Antakova, Elena (UIC) def. Lech, Natalia/Hrovatic, Tanja (ILS) 8-7 (10-8)
3. Peters, Carmen/Esker, Hannah (ILS) def. Jellish, Amy/Reisch, Jenna (UIC) 8-5