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Mayu Ushio

Women’s Tennis Edged Out by Wyoming

The Flames won the doubles point in Saturday’s 4-1 loss to the Cowgirls

2/24/2024 6:19:00 PM

Box Score BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (Feb 24, 2024) – The UIC women's tennis program (2-5) dropped a hard-fought 4-1 contest in a neutral site match against Wyoming (8-4) Saturday afternoon at the Michael O. Buchanon Park Indoor Tennis Facility.

The Flames won the doubles point for the third time this season, but were unable to hold off the Cowgirls in singles competition as Wyoming won the first four singles contests to clinch the team match.
COMMENT FROM HEAD COACH ELIZABETH LUMPKIN ROBINSON

"Our doubles emphasis this past week in practice was evident in our strong doubles start today. Our team fought hard and the score doesn't reflect how close it really was. We will keep working and continue to build our competitiveness. Our time is coming."

MATCH RECAP
  • The Flames came out strong in doubles competition, winning the doubles point over the Cowgirls.
  • At No. 2 doubles, the Flames' pair of Tamara Malazonia (Birmingham, United Kingdom/St. Paul's School for Girls) and Camille Belberka (Saint-Denis-lès-Bourg, France/Seward County Community College (Kan.) defeated their Wyoming counterparts 6-4 to secure their third doubles victory of the season
  • Tied 6-6 at No. 1 doubles, UIC's team of Agnes Gustafsson (Paris, France Akademi Båstad Gymnasium, Sweden) and Mayu Ushio (Yamaguchi, Japan/Miami University) won a 7-3 tiebreak to clinch the match victory and the doubles point
  • Playing a singles contest for the first time this season, Paula Rodriguez Gregoris (Canary Islands, Spain/International School of Berne) battled back in her match at No. 6 singles, but ultimately fell 6-0, 7-5.
  • In her match at No. 3 singles, Ushio won her first set 7-6 via a 7-5 tiebreak and had a 4-2 lead in the second set against her Cowgirls opponent, but the match went unfinished due to Wyoming already winning the team match.
  • Belberka was also in a tightly contested contest at No. 5 singles, but her match went unfinished as well.
Full results from Saturday's contest are below.
 
RESULTS
 
WYO 4, UIC 1
 
Doubles – UIC wins the doubles point
  1. Gustafsson/Ushio (UIC) def. Zehender/Borodina (WYO) 7-6 (7-3)
  2. Malazonia/Belberka (UIC) def. Brink/Dobrilova (WYO) 6-0
  3. Malinak/Ante (WYO) def. Ryan/Rodriguez Gregoris (UIC) 6-1
Singles
  1. Zehender (WYO) def. Gustafsson (UIC) 7-5, 6-4
  2. Brink (WYO) def. Malazonia (UIC) 6-2, 6-2
  3. Ushio (UIC) vs. Borodina (WYO) 7-6 (7-5), 4-2, unfinished
  4. Dobrilova (WYO) vs.  Belberka (UIC) 7-5, 5-4, unfinished
  5. Ante (WYO) def. Ryan (UIC) 7-5, 6-2
  6. Malinak (WYO) def. Rodriguez Gregoris 6-0, 7-5
UP NEXT
  • The Flames continue its weekend slate with a Sunday showdown against Western Kentucky. Tomorrow's contest will start at 1 p.m. and take place at the Michael O. Buchanon Park Indoor Tennis Facility.
  • This will be the second all-time meeting between UIC and Western Kentucky, with the Flames winning the first match against the Hilltoppers in 2022.
  • WKU enter Sunday's contest with a 3-5 record with wins over Southern Indiana, Southeast Missouri and Northern Kentucky.
  • In its most recent contest on Feb. 17, Western Kentucky was swept by Murray State 7-0.
  • Junior Sofia Blanco is a player to watch out for on Western Kentucky. She is 6-1 on the season and is a perfect 5-0 when competing at the No. 5 and No. 6 singles positions. 
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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