The UIC men's tennis team will resume conference play in earnest with a pair of weekend matches against Cleveland State and Youngstown State.

The Flames (5-6, 0-1 HL) will aim to build on a two match winning streak.  They are coming off a thrilling 4-3 win over South Dakota State that wasn't decided until the final singles match, a three set win by Christian San Andres.  Niko Wasilewicz was elevated to the #1 singles match for just the second time this season, and responded with an emphatic 7-6, 6-3 win for his second consecutive victory.  He earned his first Horizon League Singles Player of the Week award following the match.

UIC swept all three doubles sets in both of their recent wins, and have done so in all five of their team victories this season.  Wasilewicz and Alvaro de la Fuente have only recently been paired together in match play, but have gone 2-0.  Marcelo Dib and Carl Hedstrom have a 3-1 record on the #1 doubles court.

The South Dakota State match showed the Flames can prevail in a close match after being involved in lopsided scores most of the season.  In fact, of UIC's 11 matches this spring, the losing team has been shut out or scored only one point in nine of them.

First up for the Flames will be a road match at Cleveland State (5-10, 0-0 HL) Saturday morning.  The Vikings were picked to finish second in the preseason Horizon League poll.  They enter the weekend having lost four in a row and eight of nine matches.  Included in that stretch are losses to the Western Michigan squad that bested the Flames earlier this season and nationally-ranked Rice.  Nico Mostardi has anchored the #1 singles slot and has the best singles record on the team (7-7).  Colton Buffington and William Malm are the reigning conference Doubles Team of the Week.  They earned a win against UTEP and led their set against Rice when it was called.

UIC will conclude the weekend road trip with a match at Youngstown State (12-5, 0-0 HL).  The Penguins have won seven of their last eight matches including wins over in-state rivals Dayton and Xavier.  Mitch Maroscher holds an 11-3 record at #1 singles, and he has teamed with Thomas Rodrigues to post an 11-4 record in the #1 doubles slot.

In their Horizon League opener, sandwiched within the early non-conference schedule, the Flames dropped a 7-0 decision to Valparaiso on Feb. 24.  UIC is 2-5 in road matches.  Its opponents this weekend are a combined 9-3 on their home courts.