UIC used strong singles play to defeat Northern Kentucky in the Horizon League quarterfinals, 4-1, Friday afternoon.
As they did in both of the regular season meetings, Northern Kentucky won the doubles point in a tightly contested battle. Playing with the confidence from riding singles play to victory in Saturday's match against the Norse, when UIC won five of the six singles matches, the Flames ripped off four straight wins to move on to the semifinals.
Three of the singles matchups were rematches of last week's regular season finale. UIC won all three of those matches on Saturday, and won the two that were completed today, courtesy of Franceso Tacconi and
Ammar Wazir. Across the board, the Flames got stronger as the matches wore on, surrendering just 1, 2, 0, and 1 games in the four respective clinching sets.
With the win, UIC advances to the semifinals against #1 seed Youngstown State. That match will begin at 10 a.m. Central on Saturday morning.
Doubles Results
Singles Results
- Strandberg returned to the top of the lineup, after playing the last four matches at #2. He proved worthy of the top spot, quickly dispatching Emilien Burnel, 6-2, 6-1, to bring the Flames even in the team score.
- Tacconi ralled from a 4-2 deficit in set one to win, 7-5. He had an easier path to victory in the second set, putting together a 7-5, 6-2 win at #3.
- Kruzel started slow, winning only three games in his first set on the #6 court. He won the last two games to pull out a 7-5 win in the second set, and then dominated the third. His 3-6, 7-5, 6-0 win put the Flames just one point away from advancing.
- Like his classmate, Ammar Wazir got stronger as his match progressed. He rallied from a 4-2 deficit in set one on the #5 court, winning four straight games to take the set.  But after losing the last three games of the second set, he dominated the winner-take-all third set and put the Flames through to the semifinals, 6-4, 2-6, 6-1.
- Schwebel played well to force a third set at #2. He lost the last two games of the first set, then won the last two games of the second. He went down a break when the clincher halted his match, trailing 4-6, 6-2, 3-5.
- Nguyen also showed tenacity in bouncing back from a first set loss. His match at #4 was called off in the middle of a tight third set, 4-6, 6-2, 2-3.
Up Next
- Youngstown State, who went undefeated during the Horizon League regular season, awaits UIC in the semifinals.
- The Flames were competitive in their first match against the Penguins, falling 4-3 on April 2. YSU won the rematch on their home courts two weeks later, 6-1.
