UIC's men's tennis team was in Bloomington, Ind. for a doubleheader Saturday. They split their two matches on the day, losing to the host Hoosiers, and defeating Eastern Illinois in the nightcap.
In the opener, UIC ran into a red-hot Indiana team that improved to 5-0 on the young season with a 7-0 sweep of the Flames. In the doubles competition, head coach
Hans Neufeld shook up the pairings. Three new sets of partners took the court, but none were able to overcome the Hoosiers.
Niko Wasilewicz and
Christian San Andres went down 6-1 at #2, while
William Wale and Alvaro de la Fuente fared only slightly better, winning two sets in a 6-2 defeat at #3. The #1 pair of
Carl Hedstrom and
Marcelo Dib had their match called after Indiana secured the doubles point.
On the singles side, there were a couple of minor changes to the lineup.
Christian San Andres and
William Wale traded positions from the opening weekend, with San Andres moving to #4 and Wale shifting to #5. Both of them, however, lost in straight sets. The top three singles players – Hedstrom, Wasilewicz, and Dib – each lost in straight sets also, with Wasilewicz pushing Keivon Tabrizi to the brink in the second set before falling 6-1, 7-6.
Kailesh Panchapakesan made his season debut at #6 singles, falling 6-3, 6-1 to Zac Brodney.
After a short turnaround, the Flames were back on the courts to face Eastern Illinois. In an all around thrilling match, UIC got its first win of the season, 5-2.
The doubles matches went the way of the Flames from start to finish. Wasilewicz and San Andres took a 6-3 decision at #2, and Wale and de la Fuente captured a 6-4 victory. With the doubles point in hand, Hedstrom and Dib completed the sweep with a hard fought, 7-5 win. "We competed with much better energy against Eastern to sweep the doubles," Neufeld said, after his squad won its first doubles point in four matches this season. With the reshuffled pairings in effect, it was also the first win for each of the respective pairs.
The singles competition started with Wasilewicz taking a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Grant Reiman at #2. Panchapakesan closed out a 6-3, 6-4 match at #6 shortly thereafter. It was the first singles win of the season for each of them.
Eastern Illinois tightened the match when Marko Janjusic took down Wale at #5, 6-3, 6-3. But San Andres, at #4, never let up and slammed the door on Gage Kingsmith, 6-3, 6-4. The individual drama was just getting started, though, as Dib at #3 and Hedstrom at #1 each went to a third set tiebreaker. Dib fended off Jared Woodson, 6-2, 4-6, 10-6, and in perhaps the match of the night, Hedstrom lost a heartbreaker to Freddie O'Brien, 6-2, 6-7, 10-7, after fighting off four match points.
"In singles, the three freshmen [Wasilewicz, Panchapakesan, and San Andres] clinched the match for us," Neufeld said. "Carl lost a tough one in the breaker but he was right there."
Neufeld was glad to leave Bloomington with at least one win, but didn't want to dwell on it for too long. "We're looking forward to building off our first win and using this momentum next weekend," he said. The Flames will travel to Elmhurst, Ill. on Saturday for a doubleheader against Elmhurst College.
