The UIC men's tennis team got a taste of high level tournament play over the weekend at the ITA Midwest Regional championships in Ann Arbor, Mich.

Though none of the Flames advanced out of the singles qualifying bracket, Niko Wasilewicz tasted victory in a consolation match against Valparaiso's Franklin Brozovich.  After dropping a two set match to Northern Illinois in the first round, Wasilewicz rebounded to take down Brozovich, 4-6, 6-3, 10-8.

Wasilewicz was a two-time winner in the event.  He and Marcelo Dib won their first round doubles matchup against Northern Illinois, 8-3, before running into a buzzsaw in the #2 seeded team from Wisconsin in the second round.  The Badger duo, who would go on to win the doubles championship, eliminated Wasilewicz and Dib, 8-2.

Dib pushed two opponents to the brink in the singles bracket, but could not come away with a win.  In the first round, he had four match points after a 7-6 (5) win in the first set, but his counterpart from Marquette staved off elimination and won the second set 7-5, and then the third, 6-3.  Dib won the first set in his consolation match versus Northwestern, but suffered a similar fate in a second set tiebreaker.  The final score was 4-6, 7-6 (3), 10-4 in favor of NU's Johannes Abrahamsen.

Marco Nanni was paired against a Horizon League foe, Florian Kraenzler of Green Bay, in the first qualifying round.  Kraenzler was a straight set winner, 6-3, 6-1.  Nanni drew Michigan State in the consolation round, and dropped a 6-3, 6-2 decision.

Nanni and Johan Hedstrom were placed against a top-16 seed in the first round of the doubles draw.  The duo from Northwestern proved to be too much for the Flames to handle in an 8-2 match.
The ITA Regionals conclude the fall portion of the team's schedule.  The dual season will begin January 13 when the Flames play Michigan State.