Sept. 20, 2014

Bowling Green Invitational Results

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The UIC women's tennis team concluded action at its first competition of the fall at the Bowling Green Invitational on Saturday. The two-day tournament produced nine wins through singles and doubles for the Flames, with senior Keti Mebuke and freshman Melika LeBlanc each winning the consolation of their respective singles brackets.

Sophomore Oana Manole competed in Flight 1 singles and went 1-2 with an initial 0-6, 6-2, 11-9 win against Youngstown State's Marta Burak before she fell to IPFW's Mayu Soto, 6-2, 6-3, and to Cincinnati's Kelly Poggensee-Wei, 6-1, 6-1.

In Flight 2, Mebuke dropped a 6-4, 6-5 decision to Detroit's Nino Sujashvilli but came back in the consolation bracket to defeat Youngstown State's Dominika Lackova, 7-5, 6-4, and Toledo's Katelyn Nguyen in the final match.

Junior Ann-Sophie Hahn represented UIC in Flight 3 and competed in two matches for a 1-2 record. She first fell to Meili Martin, 6-0, 6-4, from Bowling Green and then came away with a 6-2, 6-2 win against IPFW's Ella Norgren, but suffered a 6-1, 6-2 loss in the consolation final to Cleveland State's Mathilde Orange.

Freshman Bianca Zuzu suffered a setback in Flight 4, as she went down 6-2, 7-6 (5) to Cleveland State's Victoria Bensimon and was defeated by IPFW's Alina Schibol before falling in her final match, 6-2, 7-6 (4), to Bowling Green's Megan Miller.

LeBlanc concluded singles play for the Flames by winning the Flight 5 consolation bracket. She first fell to Cincinnati's Hannah Wille, 6-0, 6-3, but was able to fight through her next two matches to defeat Detroit's Viktoria Laskutova, 6-3, 6-4, and IPFW's Sofia Sorokina, 6-2, 6-3, in the final.

In doubles play, Manole and Hahn competed in Flight 1 and went 0-3 with losses to Cincinnati's Poggensee-Wei and Belinger, 8-3, Bowling Green's Hutchison and Adams, and Cleveland State's Bensimon and Golawska, 8-7 (7-4).

Mebuke and Zuzu went 1-2 in Flight 2, with losses against Bowling Green's Martin and Drayton, 8-2, and Cincinnati's Bure and Miller, 8-1, and a win against Youngstown State's Brendel and Ferry, 8-1.

In the set of Flight 4, LeBlanc combined with Bowling Green's Plaszewski and took an 8-7 victory over Cleveland State's Orange and Cincinnati's Perry, in addition to an 8-4 win against a team of Toledo's Rygh and Youngstown State's Ferry.

UIC returns to action next weekend as they head to Evanston, Ill., to compete in the three-day Northwestern Invitational beginning Friday (Sept. 26).