CHICAGO – The UIC women's tennis team (1-2) will continue its road trip with a dual against Ball State (4-2) on Friday, Feb. 16 at 4 p.m. CT. The Cardinals are the first of first of five Mid-American Conference (MAC) opponents the Flames will face before Horizon League play begins next month.

LAST TIME OUT
UIC grabbed its first win of the dual season with a convincing 6-1 victory over fellow-city school Chicago State on Tuesday. The Flames swept all three doubles matches for the doubles point and went on to take five singles victories, four of which came in straight sets. The straight-set victories came at the hands of Lejla Colic, Melika LeBlanc, Rachel Le Comber and Amelia Guevremont.

SCOUTING BALL STATE
The Cardinals are off to a 4-2 start this dual season after putting up a 6-1 victory of their own on Saturday (Feb. 10) against Valparaiso. Ball State took all three doubles matches to secure the doubles point and went on to take five of six singles matches in the victory.

UIC AND BALL STATE: A HISTORY
The Flames are 2-7 all-time versus Ball State, and are without a win against the Cardinals on the road. Friday's match will serve as the first dual between the two teams in nearly a decade and a half, as the last meeting between the Flames and the Cardinals was on Feb. 21, 2004.

FLAMES FALL FINISH
The Flames competed in three fall tournaments prior to the ITA Regionals: the Cincinnati Invitational, the Wildcat Invite and their own UIC Invitational. The Flames ended fall tournament play with a combined 32-31 record in singles play and 18-17 in doubles, and were highlighted by newcomer Amelia Guevremont's 8-2 showing. Veterans Rachel Le Comber and Georgie Sanders both wrapped up the fall season with a 5-5 record in singles play. On the doubles side, UIC was led by the duo of Viktoria Seifert and Stefana Vasic (4-2) as well as Georgie Sanders and Lejla Colic (5-5).

FLAMES PICKED FIRST IN HL PRESEASON POLL
UIC was picked to finish first in the Horizon League Preseason Poll, receiving five of a total possible nine first-place votes. The Flames finished with a total of 86 points, just ahead of Youngstown State in second with four first-place votes and 84 total points. Cleveland State (63) finished third, Wright State (57), fourth, while Northern Kentucky (53), Detroit Mercy (47), Oakland (46), Milwaukee (27), IUPUI (23), and Green Bay (9) finished fifth through tenth, respectively.

UIC ADDS THREE
This year's roster boasts nine players consisting of three newcomers and six returners. Amelia Guevremont is the only true freshman in the bunch, having arrived in Chicago by way of Verdun, Quebec. Sophomore Lejla Colic joins UIC after finishing her freshman season at Washington State, where she was 13-9 in singles play and 12-8 in doubles. Viktoria Seifert joins the Flames after two years at Seminole State, where she was the Trojans' number one player in both singles and doubles in her sophomore year. Returning to the roster are veterans Rachel Le Comber, Melika LeBlanc, Miranda Rodriguez Diaz de Leon, Georgie Sanders, Stefana Vasic and Bianca Zuzu.