UIC closed out the first day of the River Forest Collegiate Invitational with impressive singles wins up and down the lineup.

"The boys fired up in singles," Hans Neufeld said, "which sets up a big day for us tomorrow.  They played with energy and conditioning in their singles matches."

Seven of nine first-round singles matches went UIC's way.  Those players will move on in the winners' side of their respective brackets, with two more rounds taking place Saturday to determine the champions.

The invitational began with three rounds of doubles play across four flights.  The Flames gained experience, sending three brand new pairings onto the courts.

Doubles Results

• Pelle Strandberg and Kevin Kruzel won their second round match to move into the fifth place bracket in the #1 flight.  They beat Eastern Illinois before falling to Washington University to end the draw.
• Francesco Tacconi and Ammar Wazir paired up in the #2 flight.  They fell to opponents from Saint Louis, Eastern Illinois, and WashU.
• Anthony Nguyen and Artem Iermolov, who played together twice last season, salvaged their seventh place match in the #3 draw against Youngstown State with a 6-5 (6) win.
• Freshmen Theo Duclos and Daan Bank also came out on top in the seventh place match at #4, triumphing over Illinois State.

Singles Results

• Strandberg defeated St. Louis in the opening round of the #1 singles draw.
• Tacconi, slotted at #2, topped Illinois State.
• Gustavo Schwebel opened up with a win over Illinois State in the #3 draw.
• Nguyen won a third-set tiebreaker over WashU at #4.
• Kruzel also defeated WashU, in the #5 bracket.
• Luiz Dos Santos was one of only two Flames not to win their first round singles match.  He fell to Illinois State at #6.
• Three Flames entered the #7 draw.  Daan Bank beat Xavier, Wazir topped Illinois State, and Duclos fell to Xavier.

Play will pick back up at 9:00 am Saturday.