Feb. 23, 2011
MADISON, Wis. - The UIC men's tennis showed a lot of heart and passion out there, but dropped the match to host No. 40 Wisconsin Wednesday night, 7-0.
"Our doubles line-up played really tough with Wisconsin, but couldn't pull through in the end," said head coach Hans Neufeld. "I was pleased with the first set of each singles slot, but they stepped up the intensity in the second set and pulled away. Alan Reifer had a standout performance, and played a really tough opponent almost to the brink of victory."
Wisconsin's No. 3 double tandems of Petr Satral and Fredrik Ask, set the tone early for the Badgers and defeated senior Luiz Gonzaga and freshman Alan Reifer, 8-3. The top doubles play of Marek Michalicka and Billy Bertha clinched the doubles point for the Badgers, defeating the Flames freshman Alexander Raa and junior Dave Robare, 8-4. Juniors Nate Kirk and Scott Shepardson were looking for their third straight win at the No. 3 doubles position, but fell to UW's Ricardo Martin and Rodney Carey in a tussle, 8-7.
The Flames really showed their hard work and hustle in singles play, but it unfortunately didn't pay off, since Wisconsin swept all six singles matches in straight sets. Reifer who leads the Flames with four singles wins, took his opponent Carey of Wisconsin to the limit in the No. 5 position, but dropped the match, 7-6, 7-6.
UIC after being on the road for three straight matches will finally be heading back home to the Hinsdale Racquet Club in Hinsdale, Ill., where they open up conference play. The flames will welcome the University of Wisconsin- Green Bay, on Saturday, March 5, beginning at 7 p.m. CT.
#40 Wisconsin 7, UIC 0
SINGLES:
1. Marek Michalicka (WIS) def. Alexander Raa (UIC) 6-2, 6-1
2. Ricardo Martin (WIS) def. James Li (UIC) 7-5, 4-1
3. Billy Bertha (WIS) def. Nate Kirk (UIC) 6-4, 6-4
4. Petr Satral (WIS) def. Luiz Gonzaga (UIC) 6-3, 6-1
5. Rodney Carey (WIS) def. Alan Reifer (UIC) 7-6, 7-6
6. Alexander Teppert (WIS) def. Camilo Giraldo (UIC) 6-4, 6-2
DOUBLES:
1. #43 Michalicka/Bertha (WIS) def. Raa/Robare (UIC) 8-4
2. Martin/Carey (WIS) def. Kirk/Shepardson (UIC) 8-7
3. Satral/Ask (WIS) def. Gonzaga/Reifer (UIC) 8-3
ORDER OF FINISH
Singles: (4,1,6,3,2,5)
Doubles: (3,1,2)
