March 20, 2012

DALLAS - Moving its matches to the Northwood Country Club due to inclement weather, the UIC men's tennis team (2-9) began competition on Monday by capturing its second win of the season with a win over Prairie View A&M, before falling to Southern Methodist University. The Flames came out on top of the Panthers, 5-1, but could not hold on to the Mustangs, dropping a 7-0 decision.

While the Flames did not compete in doubles due to a delayed start, they were able to come away with five straight-set wins to take the match over the Panthers. James Li defeated Kristen Powell, 6-4, 6-3, at No. 2, as Nate Kirk took his match at No. 5 with David Aldaz, 6-4, 6-3.

Alan Reifer, Maurizio Feoli and Rahul Kamath each battled through tiebreakers to take their respective matches. Reifer captured the win at No. 3 over Juan Pablo Robles, 7-6 (4), 7-5, Feoli topped Trenton Johnson, 7-6 (5), 6-0, at No. 4 and Kamath downed Jonathan Dingle, 6-4, 7-6 (4), at No. 6, while Alexander Raa dropped a tight match at No. 1 to Ronald Chidzikwe, 6-2, 7-5.

"SMU won the doubles point, but we won a really good match at No. 3," head coach Hans Neufeld said. "Overall, the team played well. Excellent energy in doubles against a very good team."

At doubles, SMU won 2-of-3 matches to take the first point. Feoli and Reifer were able to come away with a win for UIC with their 9-7 match over Robert Sajovich and Joseph Hattrup at No. 3. Raa and Kamath (No. 1) fell to Gaston Cuadranti and Pablo Perez-Esnaola, 8-5, as Scott Shepardson and Kirk (No. 2) dropped their match to Arturs Kazijevs and Tobias Flood, 8-3.

Through singles, the Flames went down in straight set matches. Raa (No. 1) and Reifer (No. 3) fell to their respective opponents in Cuadranti and Kazijevs in 6-2, 6-1 matches. At No. 2, Li fought to a 7-5, 6-2 loss to Perez-Esnaola, while Feoli fell at No. 4 to Mischa Mowicki, 6-1, 6-4. Additionally, Kirk dropped at No. 5 to Flood, 6-3, 6-2, and Kamath battled at No. 6 against Sajovich, 6-4, 7-6.

UIC returns home to begin Horizon League play at the Flames Outdoor Tennis Courts on Saturday against Wright State at 7 p.m. (CT) and on Sunday against Butler at 7 p.m. (CT).


UIC 5, Prairie View 1
Singles:
1. Ronald Chidzikwe (PVAM) def. Alexander Raa (UIC) - 6-2, 7-5
2. James Li (UIC) def. Kristen Powell (PVAM) - 6-4, 6-3
3. Alan Reifer (UIC) def. Juan Pablo Robles (PVAM) - 7-6 (4), 7-5
4. Maurizio Feoli (UIC) def. Trenton Johnson (PVAM) - 7-6 (5), 6-0
5. Nate Kirk (UIC) def. David Aldaz (PVAM) - 6-4, 6-3
6. Rahul Kamath (UIC) def. Jonathan Dingle (PVAM) - 6-4, 7-6 (4)


SMU 7, UIC 0
Doubles:
1. Cuadranti/Perez-Esnaola (SMU) def. Raa/Kamath (UIC) - 8-5
2. Kazijevs/Flood (SMU) def. Shepardson/Kirk (UIC) - 8-3
3. Feoli/Reifer (UIC) def. Sajovich/Hattrup (SMU) - 9-7

Singles:
1. Gaston Cuadranti (SMU) def. Alexander Raa (UIC) - 6-2, 6-1
2. Pablo Perez-Esnaola (SMU) def. James Li (UIC) - 7-5, 6-2
3. Arturs Kazijevs (SMU) def. Alan Reifer (UIC) - 6-2, 6-1
4. Mischa Nowicki (SMU) def. Maurizio Feoli (UIC) - 6-1, 6-4
5. Tobias Flood (SMU) def. Nate Kirk (UIC) - 6-3, 6-2
6. Robert Sajovich (SMU) def. Rahul Kamath (UIC) - 6-4, 7-6