Feb. 24, 2012
KALAMAZOO, Mich. - In the first game back from competition since Feb. 4, the UIC men's tennis team dropped 7-0 to Western Michigan on Friday. The Flames go to 0-5 on the season, while the Broncos move to 9-4.
"It was a great effort," assistant coach Michael Jackson said. "A few points decided the match and this should be a good building block against Bradley."
It was a tough battle in doubles for UIC, as they were defeated at each position. Alexander Raa and Rahul Kamath competed at No. 1 against Nadin Indre and Ross VanderPloeg, taking them to a close finish before falling, 8-7 (7-1). Alan Reifer and Maurizio Feoli dropped at No. 2 to Zeyad Montasser and Simon Blomberg, 8-1, while James Li rotated into doubles with Scott Shepardson at No. 3, but came up short to Pablo Olivarez and Aaron Wong, 8-5.
At singles, the Flames took the Broncos to high-scoring sets, but ultimately fell in the six positions. Raa took on Indre at No. 1, going down 7-6, 6-2, while Li dropped to Blomberg at No. 2, 6-2, 6-1. Reifer competed at No. 3 against Olivarez but went down 6-3, 6-2, with Feoli also falling at No. 4 to Montasser in a close match, 7-6, 7-5.
Kamath faced tough competition for a second time in the day as he went to three sets with Wong at No. 5. He took the first, but fell in the remaining two sets with a final of 3-6, 7-6 (7-3), 1-0 (10-6).
Francisco Pereira moved into the rotation for the first time since facing Northwestern on Jan. 15. He went head-to-head with Marc Shideler at No. 6, but came up short 6-4, 6-2.
The Flames head to Peoria, Ill., to take on Bradley on Sunday at the Clubs at River City-North at 11 a.m. (CT).
Western Michigan 7, UIC 0
Doubles:
1. Indre/VanderPloeg (WMU) def. Raa/Kamath (UIC) - 8-7 (7-1)
2. Montasser/Blomberg (WMU) def. Reifer/Feoli (UIC) - 8-1
3. Olivarez/Wong (WMU) def. Shepardson/Li (UIC) - 8-5
Order of finish: 2, 3, 1
Singles:
1. Nadin Indre (WMU) def. Alexander Raa (UIC) 7-6, 6-2
2. Simon Blomberg (WMU) def. James Li (UIC) 6-2, 6-1
3. Pablo Olivarez (WMU) def. Alan Reifer (UIC) 6-3, 6-2
4. Zeyad Montasser (WMU) def. Maurizio Feoli (UIC) 7-6, 7-5
5. Aaron Wong (WMU) def. Rahul Kamath (UIC) 3-6, 7-6 (7-3), 1-0 (10-6)
6. Marc Shideler (WMU) def. Francisco Pereira (UIC) 6-4, 6-2
Order of finish: 2, 1, 3, 6, 4, 5
