Feb. 15, 2014
MSU 5, UIC 2 
GRIFFITH, Ind. - The UIC women's tennis team (1-6) fell in its home opener at Match Point Tennis on Saturday to Michigan State, 5-2. Seniors Kathryn Sharples and Jana Knoppe won in doubles and went on to take their respective singles matches.
The Flames captured a win in doubles by Sharples and Knoppe at the No. 2 position, taking down Julianne Gruber and Emily Meyers, 8-3. The Spartans came away with the other two positions to win the doubles point, with Mariana Palacios and Natalia Kuvakina falling to Marina Bohrer and Erin Faulkner, 8-1, at No. 1 and Keti Mebuke and Veronica Lacerda dropping an 8-3 deciion to Athena Trouillot and Anna Zelechonok at No. 3.
Sharples and Knoppe then went on to take the lone victories in doubles for UIC. Sharples took down Catherine Parenteau, 6-1, 6-2, at No. 3 and Knoppr defeated Emily Meyers, 7-5, 6-0, at No. 4.
Palacios fell in straight sets to Bohrer at No. 1, while Kuvakina won her first set against Faulkner at No. 2 before she eventually suffered a 1-6, 6-4, 6-2 loss. Mebuke came up short at No. 5 against Olga Chernova, 6-4, 7-5, and Lacerda went down at No. 6 to Trouillot, 6-2, 6-2.
The Flames will travel to Kalamazoo, Mich., to face Western Michigan on Sunday at 10 a.m. CT at West Hills Athletic Club, where they will look to take their second-consecutive win over the Broncos.
