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Zara Ryan
Mark Black

Women’s Tennis Narrowly Defeated by Butler in Season Opener

The Flames won the doubles point and two singles matches in Tuesday’s 4-3 loss

1/30/2024 8:09:00 PM

Box Score INDIANAPOLIS (Jan. 30, 2024) – In a tightly contested contest, the UIC women's tennis team fell to Butler 4-3 in its season opener. The Flames won the doubles point and two singles matches in the loss to the Bulldogs.
 
Tuesday's match marked UIC's first under head coach Elizabeth Lumpkin Robinson. COMMENT FROM HEAD COACH ELIZABETH LUMPKIN ROBINSON
 
"We knew this would be a competitive match and we don't shy away from a challenge. We competed hard this afternoon and learned a lot from this first match of the season. We look forward to getting back to work and preparing for another tough weekend."
 
MATCH RECAP
  • The Flames came out strong to open the competition, winning the doubles point. UIC's No. 1 doubles pair of Agnes Gustafsson (Paris, France/Akademi Båstad Gymnasium) and Mayu Ushio (Yamaguchi, Japan/Miami (Ohio) and the No. 2 tandem of Tamara Malazonia (Birmingham, England/St. Paul's School for Girls) and Camille Belberka (Saint-Denis-lès-Bourg, France/Seward County Community College (Kan.) both won 6-2 over their Butler opponents.
  • At No. 1 singles, Gustafsson closed out an extremely competitive battle to get UIC its first singles point on the board.
  • At No. 5 singles, Zara Ryan (Dublin, Ireland/Utah State) showed tremendous improvement and won in dominant fashion.
  • However, Butler won the remaining four singles competitions to win the match.
  • Three of UIC's six singles matches went three sets, while both of the Flames' singles victories were won in straight sets.
RESULTS
 
Butler 4, UIC 3
 
Doubles – UIC wins the doubles point
  1. Gustafsson/Ushio (UIC) def. Boesing/Metcalf (BUT) 6-2
  2. Malazonia/Belberka (UIC) def. Schurhamer/Schildcrout (BUT) 6-2
  3. Balthozar/Cook (BUT) def. Ryan/Brion (UIC) 6-4 
Singles
  1. Gustafsson (UIC) def. Boesing (BUT) 6-3, 6-4
  2. Schurhamer (BUT) def. Malazonia (UIC) 2-6, 7-6 (2), 6-4
  3. Metcalf (BUT) def. Ushio (UIC) 6-3, 6-2
  4. Balthozar (BUT) def. Belberka (UIC) 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
  5. Ryan (UIC) def. Beavin (BUT) 6-1, 6-1
  6. Martin (BUT) def. Brion (UIC) 4-6, 6-4, 6-4
UP NEXT
  • The Flames continue their season-opening three-match road trip Saturday with a contest at Bowling Green.
  • The Falcons enter Saturday's match with a 2-1 record, with wins against Dayton (4-3) and Western Illinois (7-0) and a loss against Northwestern Ohio (4-3).
  • The Jan. 3 contest will start at 4:30 p.m. CT from the Perrysburg Tennis Center.
  • UIC will also take on Toledo on Sunday at 12 p.m. CT at the Twos Athletic Club.
  • The Rockets enter Sunday's contest with a 1-1 record, with a win at Dayton (4-3) and a loss at Xavier (4-3).
  • Toledo went 20-4 a season ago and advanced to the finals of the MAC Championships. 
FOLLOW THE FLAMES
  • For more information on the UIC women's tennis program, fans are encouraged to visit UICFlames.com, or follow the Flames on social media through X (@UICWTEN and @UICFlames) and Instagram (@uic_wten and @uicflames).
 
 
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