UIC will begin Horizon League play in Detroit with a match against the Detroit Mercy Titans Sunday evening.  The match, originally scheduled for the Titans' outdoor courts, has been moved to the indoor courts of Franklin Athletic Club and will begin at 5:00 pm Central.

Though the Titans were picked to finish third in the Horizon League preseason poll, and garnered one first place vote, head coach Hans Neufeld expects a close match.  "If you look at the ratings, we're right there with them up and down the lineup.  We went to match point with them last year, against virtually the same team, so our guys know they can compete.  They just have to go out there with the right mindset," he said.

Service

• Every Flame who has played more than one singles match this season has at least one win.
• Johan Hedstrom leads the team with four dual wins.
• Niko Wasilewicz has played every #1 singles match so far.  Every other flight has seen at least two Flames compete three or more times.

Return

• Marcelo Dib and Wasilewicz have been the #1 doubles team for most of the season, but in the last match, Dib paired with Kailash Panchapakesan on the #1 court.
• Johan Hedstrom has been a mainstay at #2 doubles, playing with either Marco Nanni or William Wale.
• Four different pairs have competed at #3 as Neufeld has experimented with different lineups throughout the season.

Winner

• The Flames are aiming for their first conference win since April 16, 2016, when they defeated Detroit Mercy 4-3.
• In last year's meeting, the teams had three points each with only the #2 singles match to finish.
• Wasilewicz dropped a 7-6, 7-5 decision as Detroit Mercy clinched the win.

Last Time Out

• UIC snapped a two match losing streak with a convincing 6-1 win over Purdue Northwest last Friday.
• After winning the doubles point, the Flames won the first five singles matches in straight sets.
• In the first three singles matches to finish, UIC dropped only six games across the six sets in clinching the team victory.

Scouting Detroit Mercy

• The Titans are coming off a 1-1 road trip where they defeated Xavier and lost to Louisville.
• Like UIC, Detroit Mercy has deployed multiple players on each of the singles flights.
• Artem Vasheshnikov has seen the lion's share of action at #1 singles and has a 5-5 record.
• Gvidas Motuzas and Luka Soskic are tied for the team lead with 10 singles wins apiece.
• Soskic and Nathan Ponton are the Titans' most successful doubles team.