CHICAGO – The UIC women's tennis team (11-4, 2-0 HL) will embark on its first Horizon League road trip of the dual season, taking on Northern Kentucky (4-6, 0-1 HL) and Wright State (9-10, 1-0 HL). The Flames will battle the Norse on Saturday, March 30 at 10 a.m. CT, before wrapping up their weekend against the Raiders on Sunday, March 31 at 8 a.m.
The Flames have won their last nine-straight matches, opening Horizon League play last weekend with a pair of wins over conference foes Detroit Mercy and Oakland. UIC swept the Titans 7-0 and finished off the weekend with a 6-1 victory over the Golden Grizzlies.
Junior
Karyna Bihel was awarded Horizon League player of the week after a 2-0 weekend at No. 2, besting the Titans' Iris Thioux, 6-2, 6-1 to clinch the win for UIC on Saturday and following it up with another win on Sunday against Oakland's Darya Maltseva, 6-2, 6-2. Bihel's weekly award was the fifth of the year for the Flames.
Rachel Le Comber also took home a pair of wins this weekend, extending her individual win streak to seven and bringing her career wins total up to 72. The senior is just win away from the No. 9 spot all-time, trailing Zvjezdana Malesevic's 73 career singles wins.
In doubles, seniors
Viktoria Seifert and
Georgie Sanders teamed up for the first time this past weekend and combined for a 2-0 weekend at No. 3. The duo defeated their opponent on Saturday against Detroit Mercy 6-2 to even out the doubles tally at one match apiece and swept the opposition 6-0 on Sunday against Oakland to put the Flames ahead 1-0 in the fight for the doubles point.
The Norse have lost their last two matches, including a 5-2 loss to Wright State on Saturday in their Horizon League opener. The Flames are an undefeated 6-0 against Northern Kentucky all-time, taking last year's meeting by a final tally of 5-2.
Wright State was on the winning side against the Norse, putting the Raiders at 1-0 so far in Horizon League action. The Flames own a 30-2 advantage all-time against Wright State after last season's 4-1 win over the Raiders in the Horizon League Tournament semifinals.
Following this weekend's action, UIC will return to Chicago to host Illinois Institute of Technology on Thursday, April 4 at 9 a.m. before heading back on the road to face IUPUI on Saturday, April 6.
