March 8, 2013

CHICAGO - After a weekend off from competition, the UIC men's tennis team (3-8) returns home to host Southern Illinois at the Hinsdale Racquet Club in Hinsdale, Ill., at 6 p.m. (CT) Saturday. The match marks the first meeting between the Flames and Salukis since the 2008-09 season.

UIC hits the courts after taking a 6-1 win over IPFW on Saturday, Feb. 23. The Flames captured the doubles point and took five matches in singles for the win.

With an 8-6 win at No. 2, Christopher Cole and Alan Reifer improved to 2-2 on the season in doubles, while Maurizio Feoli and Gautham Oroskar combined for the first time at No. 3 for an 8-5 win.

Feoli and Cole leads the team with their most recent singles wins. Feoli brought in a 6-4, 7-5 victory at No. 5 to advance to 5-2 on the season and Cole claimed a 6-4, 6-3 victory at No. 4 for a 5-4 dual season record.

Alexander Raa went to .500 at No. 1 with a 6-4, 6-0 win, and Isaac Lloveras did the same with a 6-0, 6-2 defeat at No. 3. Rahul Kamath took the final win at No. 6 in a 6-7, 6-4, 10-8 decision to improve to 3-2 at the position.

Saturday's match is the third of the season at home for the Flames after going 1-1 in previous contests, with a 7-0 win against Chicago State and a 4-3 loss to Bradley.

During its last match with Southern Illinois in the 2009 dual season, UIC fell 5-2 in Carbondale, Ill., while it captured a 4-2 win the season prior.

The Salukis are 6-2 this season, holding a 4-0 home record and a 2-2 record on the road. They are on a four-match winning streak after taking wins against Saint Louis, Eastern Illinois, Western Illinois and McKendree.