Jan. 27, 2011

CHICAGO- The UIC men's tennis team will open its weekend on Friday, Jan 28 against Western Michigan at 1 p.m. at West Hills Athletic Club in Kalamazoo, Mich.

The Flames will continue with their travels, with a match against host Illinois State on Saturday, Jan 29 at 6:30 p.m. at Evergreen Racquet Club in Bloomington, Ill.

UIC (1-2) is coming off their first win of the season against University of Chicago at home, which came in nationally ranked at No. 17 in Division III.

Horizon League Player of the Week, senior Luiz Gonzaga led the Flames to victory going two for two, with wins at the No. 2 singles and No. 1 doubles pairing up with freshman Alexander Raa.

"WMU and ISU are both top schools in their conference, MAC and MVC respectively," said head coach Hans Neufeld. "It will be a good opportunity to get our newcomers some experience in pressure situations".

Western Michigan is coming into this weekend with an overall record of 3-1. Last week the Broncos hosted UIC's conference foe Cleveland State, and won the match without dropping a point, 7-0. The next day the Broncos traveled to take on Big Ten opponent at Purdue, and took the match over the Boilermakers, 4-3.

Illinois State comes into this weekend with only one dual match under their belt, with a 7-0 win over UIC's conference foe Detroit on Jan 14. The Redbirds have a Midwest regionally ranked singles player Timon Reichelt coming in at No. 20, and a doubles tandem of Reichelt and Alexander Palaez at No. 6.

Last year, the Flames fell to Western Michigan, 6-1 at West Hills Athletic Club in Kalamazoo, Mich. UIC also played Illinois State last year, falling to the Redbirds, 7-0 at Evergreen Racquet Club in Bloomington, Ill.