CHICAGO – The UIC women's tennis team (2-1) will split its weekend at home and on the road, hosting Valparaiso (3-3) on Saturday, Feb. 15 before wrapping up the weekend at Northwestern on Sunday, Feb. 16. The Flames and Crusaders will square off Saturday at 1 p.m. CT inside XS Tennis, while the Flames and the Wildcats will meet at the Combe Tennis Center on Sunday at 6 p.m.

The Flames picked up another short-handed win last weekend, defeating city-rival Chicago State 5-2. UIC took three-straight 6-2 wins in doubles to take an early 1-0 lead before once again taking the first three singles matches to clinch the win.

Izzy Marshall is undefeated for the Flames so far in the dual season, owning a 3-0 record from the No. 4 spot to lead to squad. Karyna Bihel and Lucie Prochazkova both own 2-1 records over the first three matches. In doubles, the Flames are 5-3 against their opponents, led by Marshall, Bihel, Prochazkova and Lejla Colic with two wins each.

Valparaiso is .500 on the young season, most recently facing a pair of Horizon League teams in Milwaukee and Green Bay. The Crusaders were dealt a 5-2 loss by the Panthers and a 6-1 loss by the Phoenix. The Flames own a 19-3 record all-time against Valpo, most recently defeating the Crusaders 6-1 on Feb. 9, 2019.

Northwestern is 2-3 this season after outlasting Notre Dame 4-3 on Friday (Feb. 7). Sunday's match will be part two of a doubleheader, as the Wildcats will be taking on Georgia Tech prior to its match with UIC. The Wildcats hold an 8-2 advantage all-time after defeating the Flames 7-0 in last year's dual season opener on Jan. 18, 2019.

Following this weekend's matches, UIC will host Louisiana on Sunday, Feb. 23 at XS Tennis.