CLEVELAND, Ohio – The UIC men's tennis team picked up a straight sets victory by Ammar Wazir Friday afternoon as the Flames took on Cleveland State in Horizon League action. The victory was not enough as UIC dropped a 6-1 decision to the Vikings.

"Doubles went down to the wire and we lost a 3-all point to concede the match at No. 3 doubles," said head coach Hans Neufeld. "We had good energy throughout and just didn't get the breaks when needed. We will look to regroup for tomorrow's match at Youngstown State."
 
The doubles point came down to the No. 3 match. The Vikings struck first with a win at No. 1 doubles as Gustavo Schwebel and Luiz Dos Santos fell by a 6-3 margin. UIC evened the doubles battle at the No. 2 spot as Pelle Strandberg and Artem Iermolov posted a 6-3 victory. Coming down to the No. 3 position, the Vikings prevailed with a 6-4 victory to take a 1-0 lead into singles play.
 
Cleveland State quickly made it 2-0 after picking up a 6-1, 6-1 win at No. 5 singles. Wazir put a point on the board, cruising to a 6-2, 6-2 win over Austin Staiger at the No. 6 spot. The Vikings would run away with the match, winning the next four singles matches to take the 6-1 victory. UIC battled at the No. 3 and 4 spots, pushing the respective matches into decisive third sets.
 
The Flames will play their final road match of the regular season Saturday afternoon, taking on Youngstown State. First serve is set for 10 a.m. (CT).
 
UIC 1, Cleveland State 6
Singles Competition
1. Mikael Erler (CSUM) def. SCHWEBEL, Gustavo (UIC) 7-6 (7-5), 7-5
2. Kade Mindry (CSUM) def. STRANDBERG, Pelle (UIC) 6-2, 7-5
3. Clark Bilinovich (CSUM) def. TACCONI, Francesco (UIC) 6-4, 4-6, 6-3
4. JuandeDios Abboud (CSUM) def. NGUYEN, Anthony (UIC) 7-5, 2-6, 6-4
5. Raul Teichmann (CSUM) def. KRUZEL, Kevin (UIC) 6-1, 6-1
6. WAZIR, Ammar (UIC) def. Austin Staiger (CSUM) 6-2, 6-2
 
Doubles competition
1. Clark Bilinovich/Raul Teichmann (CSUM) def. SCHWEBEL, Gustavo/DOS SANTOS, Luiz (UIC) 6-3
2. STRANDBERG, Pelle/IERMOLOV, Artem (UIC) def. Kade Mindry/JuandeDios Abboud (CSUM) 6-3
3. Mikael Erler/Austin Staiger (CSUM) def. DUCLOS, Theo/TACCONI, Francesco (UIC) 6-4
Match Notes:
UIC 3-17, 1-5
Cleveland State 11-10, 5-1
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (5,6,2,3,1,4)