UIC outlasted Youngstown State in a dramatic, 4-3 finish in the Horizon League semifinals Saturday afternoon. After the Flames won the doubles point, the teams battled throughout singles play until the last match on the courts,
Kasper Parlklo's #3 showdown, ended in UIC's favor.
The championship match will pit the Flames against Cleveland State, with first serve at 10:00 am Sunday at Purdue's Schwartz Tennis Center.
"It was a pressure-filled match and we rose to the occasion," head coach
Hans Neufeld said. "Our doubles teams battled and Niko and William were finally able to get a crucial break. That gave us momentum that we carried into singles, where every match was a close one. We stayed focused and competed well and got a big win."
All nine matches were tight. The deciding doubles match went to a seventh game for the victorious Flames. Four of the six singles matches went to a third set, and the other two required tiebreakers in both sets.
The Flames avenged a close loss to the Penguins in the regular season. That was also a 4-3 decision, though Youngstown State clinched it at 4-0 before UIC claimed the last three points. On Saturday, it was UIC who got out to an early 2-0 lead. YSU battled back to even the score, and the teams split the next two matches to set up a winner-take-all affair on the #3 court.
The third-seeded Flames will face #1 Cleveland State for the conference title. The Vikings defeated UIC 6-1 in the last match of the regular season.
Anthony Nguyen earned the lone UIC point with a win in #4 singles, while
Johan Hedstrom and
Kailash Panchapakesan each went to a third set tiebreaker.
UIC will make its first appearance in the championship since 2010. That was the last of five straight championship appearances by the Flames. They went 0-5 in those matches, with the last three losses coming against Cleveland State. The Flames last defeated the Vikings in tournament play in 2007, which was also the last time they beat CSU in any setting.
Doubles Results
- Youngstown State captured the first doubles match with a 6-4 win over Johan Hedstrom and Kasper Parlklo at #1.
- Marcelo Dib and Pelle Strandberg pulled UIC even, taking a 6-4 decision on the #3 court.
- The doubles point hung in the balance on the #2 court, where Niko Wasilewicz and William Wale were locked in a prolonged battle. Neither team broke serve until the match was 6-5 UIC. With Youngstown State serving, Wale slammed home a winner to give the Flames the 7-5 win and the doubles point.
Singles Results
- Panchapakesan put the Flames in front 2-0 after winning at #5, 6-4, 3-6, 6-2.
- Another three-set battle went the Penguins' way at #2, where Niko Wasilewicz fell 7-5, 2-6, 6-3.
- The Penguins evened the team score on the #1 court. Johan Hedstrom lost two tiebreakers in a 7-6 (4), 7-6 (3) showdown.
- Strandberg once again was responsible for winning a crucial point. His 7-6 (2), 7-6 (5) win in the #6 flight gave UIC its third point.
- Anthony Nguyen rallied to force a third set but came up just short, 6-2, 2-6, 7-5.
- A berth in the championship rested on the outcome of the #3 singles match. In a three-set marathon befitting the battle the two teams endured, Parlklo came back from a set down. Though he was pushed nearly to the brink, he did not allow his opponent to get to a tiebreaker in a 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 victory. The result mimicked Parlklo's win over Joao Garretto in the regular season, in which Garretto won the first set 6-3 before Parlklo took the next two by 6-3 and 6-4 scores.
Up Next
- The Flames will play for the Horizon League championship against Cleveland State.
- The Vikings were undefeated in league play during the regular season and dispatched IUPUI in the other semifinal.
- The match will begin at 10:00 am.
