CLEVELAND – The UIC women's tennis team (10-5, 1-1 HL) jumped out to a two-point lead but could not hang on as Cleveland State (7-8, 1-0 HL) went on to take the 5-2 decision Saturday at Medical Mutual Tennis Pavilion.
 
The Flames were able to take their fifth-consecutive doubles point after winning at No. 1 and No. 3. Melika LeBlanc and Rachel Le Comber picked up their fourth-straight win at No. 1 in a 6-2 final before the point was clinched with a 6-3 win for Georgie Sanders and Stefana Vasic, their fifth of the year, at No. 3. Oana Manole and Bianca Zuzu went unfinished while up 4-2 at No. 2.
 
The teams headed into singles where Le Comber quickly put UIC ahead, 2-0, with a 6-0, 6-4 victory over Jana Schober at No. 5 for her 10th win of the year, but it would be the final point the Flames collected on the afternoon.
 
Zuzu came up short in a straight-set 6-2, 6-4 decision at No. 4 against Princess Gbadamosi and Cleveland State then knotted the score as Manole was defeated at No. 1 by Isabella Spindler, 7-6 (7-1), 6-3.
 
UIC did not give up as the final three matches were taken to three sets. LeBlanc captured her first set at No. 3 and went to the tiebreaker in the second, but it was Aleksandra Golawska to come out ahead of the 2-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-4 final. The match was then clinched after Miranda Rodriguez Diaz de Leon won her first set but fell in the final two at No. 6 to Blanche Lenoan, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5.
 
Sanders finished out her match at No. 2 after winning the first set and drawing out the second before ultimately dropping a 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 decision to Victoria Bensimon.
 
The Flames will return to the Midwest and prepare for a single match next Saturday (April 1) in Valparaiso, Ind., against the Crusaders at 2 p.m. CT at the Valpo Tennis Complex.