CHICAGO (Feb. 1, 2024) – After a dominant 7-0 victory over North Dakota last weekend, the UIC men's tennis program (1-2) is back on the court for two matches this weekend as the Flames host Chicago State (0-3) Friday and Northwestern (1-4) Sunday.
 
Friday's contest will start at noon from the XS Tennis Village while Sunday's 6 p.m. match will take place at the Combe Tennis Center.
 
SCOUTING CHICAGO STATE

• The Cougars enter Friday's match with a 0-3 record on the season with losses against Creighton (6-1), Marquette (5-2) and NIU (6-1).
• Junior Pedro Alvarez leads Chicago State with two singles victories this season.
• UIC enters Friday's contest with a 16-4 record over Chicago State over its last 20 meetings. The Flames are 9-0 at home over this stretch, dating back to April 2000.
• Last season UIC shut out Chicago State 4-0 (Feb. 7).

 SCOUTING NORTHWESTERN

• The Wildcats currently sport a 1-4 record on the season and are scheduled to host Oregon Friday evening and No. 8 Duke Sunday morning prior to hosting the Flames.
• Three of Northwestern's six matches prior to facing UIC will have been against Top 25 programs (No. 8 Duke, No. 15 Harvard, No. 21 NC State)
• Last season, the Flames fell to the Wildcats 4-0 (Feb. 23) in a match held in Evanston, Ill.
• Live stats for Sunday's contest are available here. Fans can watch the match on BTN2Go at this link.

FLAMES BLANK FIGHTING HAWKS

•  In its last match, UIC blanked North Dakota 7-0 for its first win of the season.
• The victory was UIC's first 7-0 win against an opponent since defeating Cardinal Stritch 7-0 last season (Feb. 19).
• The Flames won the doubles point behind wins by the No. 1 pair of Randy Wilson (Miami, Fla./Florida Gulf Coast) and Mihailo Savic (Smederevska Palanka, Serbia/Sportska Gimnazija) and the No. 3 tandem of Robinson Le Meur (Evreux, France/Sciences Po Bordeaux) and Aleksa Bucan (Belgrade, Serbia/Arkansas). UIC's No. 3 doubles pair of Gustavo Schwebel (Salvador, Brazil/Colegio Antonio Vieira) and Edoardo Bottino (Genoa, Italy/Queens University) had a 4-3 lead in their match, but it didn't finish due to UIC already winning the doubles point.
• UIC dominated in singles competition, winning all six of the matches. Five of UIC's wins came in straight sets. 
• Wilson won at No. 1 singles for his second singles win in a row, while Bucan and Bottino both recorded their second singles victories of the season. 
• LeMeur, Savic and Schwebel's victories were each their first of the 2024 season. Both LeMeur and Savic's wins were their first collegiate singles victories.

MEET THE FLAMES

• UIC has eight student-athletes competing on the 2024 squad.
• Returning from UIC's 2023 team are reigning Southland Conference Newcomer of the Year Aleksa Bucan, Elliott Dam (Naperville, Ill./Waubonsie Valley), Artem Iermolov (Las Vegas, Nev./Clark) and Gustavo Schwebel.
• New to the Flames this season are transfers Edoardo Bottino, Randy Wilson and Robinson Le Meur and freshman Mihailo Savic.

NEW YEAR, NEW CONFERENCE

• The Flames will be joining the Mid-American Conference as an affiliate member starting this season.
• UIC will be one of six MAC programs competing in men's tennis, along with Ball State, Buffalo, Northern Illinois, Toledo and Western Michigan.
• Four of the other five programs in the MAC are less than a four-hour drive from Chicago.
• The Flames join Northern Illinois as the second program from the Prairie State to compete in men's tennis in the MAC.
• UIC competed as an affiliate member in the Southland Conference during the 2022-23 season.

FOLLOW THE FLAMES

•  For more information on the UIC men's tennis program, fans are encouraged to visit UICFlames.com, or follow the Flames on social media through X (@UIC_MTEN and @UICFlames) and Instagram (@uic_mten and @uicflames).