The UIC men's tennis team will close out its season this weekend with a pair of home matches. Horizon League competition will conclude when Detroit Mercy comes to town Saturday at 2:00, and the Flames will take on Michigan State in a final non-conference match Sunday evening at 7:00. Both matches will take place at Flames Outdoor Tennis Courts.
The Flames ended a five match losing streak on Monday when they defeated Chicago State 5-2 at their home outdoor facility. They improved to 3-1 at home this season, but a mere 1-0 on campus, having played all previous home matches at their indoor facilities in Chicago and Hinsdale.
UIC won the doubles point for the third straight match.
Carl Hedstrom and
Marcelo Dib earned their fourth straight win on the #1 court.
Christian San Andres had been making it very difficult for head coach
Hans Neufeld to keep him in the #4 slot, having won six of his last seven matches. Neufeld moved him up to #3 against the Cougars, and San Andres continued his hot play with a three set win. Dib and
Johan Hedstrom also won in singles, with the latter coming back from a set down.
Detroit Mercy enters the final weekend with a 10-11 overall record, but is 4-1 in Horizon League play and has a chance to finish in first place with matches against UIC and Valparaiso remaining. They earned a 4-3 victory over Northern Kentucky in comeback fashion on Sunday. Artem Vasheshnikov came out on top at #1 singles in a winner take all, three set affair. Nathan Ponton leads the Titans with 15 overall singles wins, while Patryk Koscielski is 5-0 in conference play, all at #2, making him the conference's only undefeated player in the flight. Ponton and Vasheshnikov also comprise Detroit Mercy's top doubles team. They are 9-4 this season at #1 with four Horizon League wins.
Michigan State enters the weekend at 10-15 on the season and 0-9 in the Big Ten. It will be a grueling weekend of travel for the Spartans, as they venture to Nebraska for a Friday afternoon match before playing two matches in two states Sunday. They will tangle with Iowa Sunday morning, and leave directly from Iowa City to arrive in Chicago by the evening.
MSU fell to #28 Illinois last Sunday by a 7-0 final. Brett Forman is the team's leader in singles play with 11 wins, all at #1. Jasper Koenen has nine wins, and Michael Dube is right behind him with eight. Dube and Koenen have been the Spartan's #1 doubles team for 16 of the 21 sets to be completed, and they have been victorious nine times.
The Flames knocked off Detroit Mercy 4-3 last year. The Flames are 10-1 all time against the Titans.
Marcelo Dib had a straight set win at #3 singles. Michigan State is returning a home match they hosted against the Flames last season, when the Spartans took a 7-0 decision. That was the first ever meeting between the programs.
