The UIC men's tennis team faced a tough challenge in a non-conference match against #13 Northwestern Sunday evening.  The Flames were unable to get much traction against the Wildcats as they dropped their second match of the weekend, 4-0.  UIC fell to 3-5 overall this season.

Johan Hedstrom and William Wale took to the court for the #3 doubles match against Chris Ephron and Michael Lorenzini, and the Wildcat duo cruised to a 6-0 victory.  At #2 doubles, Niko Wasilewicz and Christian San Andres took on the 51^st ranked pair of Strong Kirchheimer and Dominik Stary.  Though Northwestern clinched the doubles point, the Flames' pair was able to win three games.  Carl Hedstrom and Marcelo Dib were in the lead at #1 doubles, 4-3, when the match was called.

"I thought we competed well in doubles at 1 and 2," head coach Hans Neufeld said.  "Niko and Christian continued to improve against their second round of formidable competition of the weekend."

The singles portion of the evening started quickly.  The #6 match was the first to finish with Lorenzini capturing a 6-1, 6-3 win over Kailash Panchapakesan.  Kirchheimer, ranked 26^th in singles, dispatched Carl Hedstrom 6-1, 6-1 at #1 to put the Wildcats within one win of clinching the match.  Jason Seidman delivered that victory at #4 with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Johan Hedstrom.

The remaining three singles matches still in progress were called once Northwestern earned their fourth point.  Wasilewicz trailed Stary, 6-2, 5-3, at #2; while San Andres faced a 6-2, 4-1 deficit to Brenden Volk at #5.  Marcelo Dib lost the first set to Ben Vandixhorn, 6-4 at #3, but played him even, 2-2, at the point of interruption.

"Marcelo, Niko, and Christian played solid in singles," Neufeld said.  "Our freshmen got some valuable experience against one of the top teams we will face this year, and it should pay off down the road."

The loss to Northwestern came on the heels of the Horizon League opener against Valparaiso on Friday.  Another tough test awaits the Flames next weekend when they return to action against Utah in Milwaukee on Sunday.