In a tightly contested battle between two teams hungry for their first Horizon League win, Wright State (5-15, 1-3 HL) held off UIC (5-9, 0-4 HL) 4-3 at Miamisburg High School Saturday afternoon.  The Raiders claimed the doubles point by the narrowest of margins, and then did just enough in the singles matches to claim the team victory.

In the #2 doubles set, Nardelli and Perkins fended off Alvaro de la Fuente and Niko Wasilewicz, 6-3.  At #1, Marcelo Dib and Carl Hedstrom got back in the win column with a 7-5 decision.  The pair is now 4-2, all at the #1 position, and has the most wins of any Flames duo.  The doubles point was decided on the #3 court, where Kailash Panchapakesan and Christian San Andres had match point.  But Ueltzhoeffer and Sanchez fought back and won the set, 7-6, giving Wright State the 1-0 lead.

UIC tied the match on the #4 singles court, where San Andres made quick work of Alvarez in a 6-0, 6-1 affair.  It was San Andres' ninth win of the season, and fifth in a row.

The rest of the matches would be much closer.  Wright State edged back out in front with a win on the #2 court.  Nardelli topped Wasilewicz, 6-3, 6-4, but Johan Hedstrom was able to tie things up once again for the Flames with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Ueltzhoeffer at #5.

The Raiders didn't let UIC take the lead.  They got a 6-1, 7-6 win from Perkins at #1 when Carl Hedstrom was unable to force a third set.  Cellupica clinched the match with a narrow win over Panchapakesan at #6, 7-6, 7-5.  Dib held off Brezing, 7-6, 7-5, at #3 to account for the final margin.

"Our guys gave a great effort on both singles and doubles," head coach Hans Neufeld said.  "It was a heartbreaker.  We had match points in the doubles and couldn't convert, which proved to be costly."
The Flames will have a shot at redemption Sunday afternoon in their final road match of the season at Northern Kentucky.