Box Score The UIC men's tennis team opened a full weekend with a match against Southern Utah at H-F Racquet Club Friday afternoon.  Despite taking the early lead with the doubles point, the Flames ultimately fell, 5-1.

Doubles

• Head coach Hans Neufeld juggled his #2 and #3 pairs for the first time all season.
• Johan Hedstrom stayed on the #2 court where, teamed with William Wale, the Flames took a 6-4 decision.
• Marco Nanni and Alvaro de la Fuente stumbled in their #3 set, 6-3.
• The doubles point came down to UIC's #1 team, Marcelo Dib and Niko Wasilewicz.  They defeated the Thunderbirds' top pair, 6-3, to claim the point.
• "We came out strong in doubles.  Niko and Marcelo closed it out with a nice win at #1," Neufeld said.

Singles

• Southern Utah got back in the match quickly with wins at #1 and #2 singles.  Wasilewicz fell victim to SUU's top player, Conor Tordoff, 6-2, 6-3.  On the #2 court, Dib went down 6-3, 6-2.
• The visitors went to the brink of clinching the match on the #4 court.  Guy Feigin took down Nanni, 6-4, 6-1.
• Fighting to the end, the next two matches went to a second-set tiebreaker.
• Hedstrom rallied but lost, 6-0, 7-6 (4) on the #3 court.
• Wale suffered a similar fate in the #6 flight, 6-0, 7-6 (5).
• After the two tiebreakers went Southern Utah's way, Kailash Panchapakesan's #5 match was called with the Flame leading, 6-4, 2-6, 2-0.
• "We had a good effort in singles, however we need to work on being consistent," Neufeld said.  "Kailash competed well.  Both Johan and William came back with good battles to get to tiebreaks in their second sets."

Up Next

• It will be less than a 24 hour turnaround for the Flames.
• They will return to action at Illinois State Saturday at 3 pm.