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Camille Belberka
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Drake DU
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Match Recap: Women's Tennis |

Women’s Tennis Opens MVC Play with Win Over Drake

The Flames defeated the Bulldogs 5-2 in its first conference match of 2024

CHICAGO (March 24, 2024) – The UIC women's tennis program (5-9, 1-0 MVC) opened conference action with a victory, as the Flames defeated Drake (5-9, 1-1 MVC) 5-2 Sunday afternoon at the XS Tennis Village.
 
UIC won the doubles point along with singles matches at the No. 3, 4, 5 and 6 spots against Drake. Sunday's victory is the Flames' second win in a row.
 
 
COMMENT FROM HEAD COACH ELIZABETH LUMPKIN ROBINSON
 
"We talk a lot about a long-term vision for our team and program. I enjoyed seeing our student-athletes trust in their abilities and close out the opportunities we had. We will keep working and building on our foundation throughout the rest of our conference schedule."
 
MATCH RECAP
  • The Flames swept the doubles point with 6-1 victories by UIC's No. 1 pair of Agnes Gustafsson (Paris, France/Akademi Båstad Gymnasium) and  Mayu Ushio (Yamaguchi, Japan/Miami University) and the No. 2 doubles tandem 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.). Drake forfeited the No. 3 doubles match.
  • In singles action, Zara Ryan (Dublin, Ireland/Utah State) made quick work of her opponent at No. 5 singles to win in straight sets. The senior has won five of her last six singles matches.
  • Similar to doubles action, Drake forfeited at the No. 6 singles spot to give UIC a team point.
  • Down 4-1 in the third set at No. 3 singles, Ushio came back to take the set 6-4 and win the match. Ushio has a team-high seven singles victories in 2024.
  • Competing against the reigning MVC Player of the Year at No. 1 singles, Gustafsson had a valiant effort against Drake's Ines Stephani, but fell in a tough three-set match.
  • The Flames secured the match victory with a straight-sets win by Belberka at No. 4 singles. The sophomore saved one set point in the second set and closed out the match with strong play on the court.
Full results from Sunday's match are below.
 
RESULTS
 
UIC 5, DU 2
 
Doubles – UIC wins the doubles point
  1. Gustafsson/Ushio (UIC) def. Stephani/Haagensen (DU) 6-1
  2. Malazonia/Celberka (UIC) def. Ehn/Stepan (DU) 6-1
  3. Rodriguez Gregoris/Ryan (UIC) def. Drake, forfeit
Singles
  1. Stephani (DU) def. Gustafsson (UIC) 4-6, 7-5, 6-4
  2. Haagensen (DU) def. Malazonia (UIC) 6-3, 6-2
  3. Ushio (UIC) def. Ehn (DU) 6-3, 3-6, 6-4
  4. Belberka (UIC) def. Stepan (DU) 6-4, 7-6 (10-8)
  5. Ryan (UIC) def. Lee (DU) 6-2, 6-1
  6. Brion (UIC) def. Drake, forfeit
UP NEXT                              
  • The Flames are back in action Friday morning as the team travels to Peoria, Ill. to take on Bradley in MVC competition.
  • Friday's contest will start at 9 a.m. at the David Markin Tennis Courts.
  • The Braves are 6-9 on the season but 5-1 in home competitions.
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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