UIC's men's tennis team put an end to a five match losing streak with a decisive 5-2 win over Chicago State Monday afternoon.  It was the Flames' first match on their home courts at Flames Outdoor Tennis Courts, and the familiar setting and home crowd propelled the Flames to their second win over their intra-city rivals in as many seasons.

The Flames wasted no time grabbing an early lead, as they won the doubles point for the third straight match.  Niko Wasilewicz and Alvaro de la Fuente took a 6-3 decision at #2, and shortly after, Marcelo Dib and Carl Hedstrom won on the #1 court by the same score.  Dib and Hedstrom advanced to 7-2 on the season with their fourth straight win.

"We had a good start in the doubles and carried the momentum into singles play," head coach Hans Neufeld said.  "Carl hit several winners in another strong set."

UIC gained another point with a default singles win, but Chicago State quickly cut the lead in half on the #2 court.  Felix Savard defeated Wasilewicz, 6-3, 6-0.  Dib got the point back with a 7-5, 6-3 win over Christian Gonzalez at #4.  It was Dib's third win in his last four singles matches.

Once again, the Cougars got to within a point.  Jiri Nouza came back to defeat Carl Hedstrom, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 at #1.  But the Flames finished strong to earn the win.

Christian San Andres was moved up to the #3 flight on the strength of his recent performance.  He earned two decisive wins at #4 in the last three matches.  It was more of the same on Monday, when he took down Gonzalo Martinez 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.

"We've been looking for a way to move Christian up," Neufeld said.  "He has shown a lot of improvement this year and had another solid effort today."

With the match clinched, the Flames turned to Johan Hedstrom at #5 to increase their margin of victory.  After splitting the first two sets with Rohan Wattley, each by a fairly convincing score, Hedstrom battled for a win in the third and a 3-6, 6-1, 7-5 victory.  It was Hedstrom's third straight three-set match, and his first win in that span.

Neufeld was glad to finally get a match on campus.  "It was a solid team effort today.  We had to move to Hinsdale at the last minute Saturday so everyone got a lift from being able to play out here."

The Flames have just two regular season matches remaining.  Both will be played at Flames Outdoor Tennis Courts next weekend.  Detroit Mercy will come to town for the Horizon League finale Saturday afternoon, and the Flames will close the year against Michigan State Sunday night.