The UIC men's tennis team and head coach Hans Neufeld have revealed the 2018 spring schedule, ahead of Saturday's season opener at Michigan State.  The Flames will face a host of regional powers in addition to the always challenging Horizon League competition, as they aim toward the Horizon League Championship at the end of April.  This year's conference tournament will be held in Chicago at the brand new XS Tennis facility, which is also the home to several Flames home matches.

"I'm looking forward to playing at XS Tennis," Neufeld said.  "Playing there during the season will give us a home court advantage in the conference.  It will be our first opportunity to play at home in the conference championship."

Michigan State was UIC's final opponent of the season last year, and as the opening opponent this year, the Spartans will provide "a good indication of how we've grown," according to Neufeld.  "Our feet will be put to the fire right away."  MSU won last year's matchup 4-0, but Marcelo Dib, Alvaro de la Fuente, and Johan Hedstrom were all leading their singles matches when Michigan State clinched their fourth point, ending any further competition.

After facing the Spartans, the Flames will get their first test against a regionally ranked opponent in early February when they take on Marquette, who checked in at #8 in last season's final ITA Midwest rankings.  Davidson and Southern Utah will visit the Windy City for matches at Hinsdale Racquet Club and Homewood-Flossmore Racquet Club respectively, before UIC faces four straight Illinois rivals.

"All of our non-conference matches are against competitive teams, and that's where we want to be to compete for the conference championship," Neufeld noted.
 

Road matches at Illinois State and Chicago State will follow, with the Chicago State match being the first of a split doubleheader that also includes Eastern Illinois.  Two more regional top-10 foes in DePaul and Western Michigan bookend a three match road trip that also includes Detroit Mercy, before Horizon League play begins in earnest at the end of March.  Wright State and Northern Kentucky will visit XS Tennis, and league newcomer IUPUI will come to town for the season's first match on campus at Flames Outdoor Tennis Courts.

"The conference will be very competitive," Neufeld predicted, noting that "last year's championship was a 4-3 match.  The key for us is getting over the hump.  We had opportunities last year with tight 4-3 matches, and we have to take advantage of those this year."

The Flames will take a break from conference play with a match at Northwestern, the fourth and final team in last season's Midwest Top 10 to grace the schedule.  After that showdown in Evanston, a road trip to Green Bay will precede the regular season's final weekend, during which UIC will host Youngstown State and Cleveland State – two teams that Neufeld believes will contend for the conference title, lending even greater importance to the final matches before the Horizon League tournament.
 

The team lost only one graduating senior from last season's team, and though Carl Hedstrom was an All-Horizon League player, the young nucleus of the squad returns.  Junior Marcelo Dib and sophomore Niko Wasilewicz teamed up for the #1 doubles championship at last fall's River Forest Invitational.  The pair won their first round match at the ITA Regionals before falling to the eventual champions.  Sophomore Johan Hedstrom and graduate transfer Marco Nanni won the #3 doubles trophy.  Nanni advanced to the championship match of his #5 singles draw, where he finished in second place.

Junior Alvaro de la Fuente and sophomores Kailash Panchapakesan and William Wale also return.  Junior Piotr Lada is the second and final newcomer.  Wale and Lada each picked up a singles win at River Forest.

Reflecting on last season's 6-13 record, Neufeld stated "Last year made them hungry.  Instead of four freshmen, now we have four sophomores.  The addition of a grad student helps with maturity.  Everyone has worked hard in the offseason and improved a lot.

"Marcelo and Niko have emerged as the leaders.  Everybody has stepped up and there's a good energy down the line."