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Zara Ryan

Women’s Tennis Embarks on Two-Match Conference Road Trip

The Flames face Bradley Friday morning and travel to Illinois State Saturday

3/28/2024 5:20:00 PM

CHICAGO (March 28, 2024) – After opening Missouri Valley Conference play with a victory last weekend, the UIC women's tennis program (5-9, 1-0 MVC) is hitting the road this weekend for two conference competitions against Bradley (6-10, 0-1 MVC) and Illinois State (10-6, 1-1 MVC).
 
Friday's contest against the Braves will start at 9 a.m. from the Markin Tennis Courts, while Saturday's match in Normal, Ill. will take place at 3 p.m. at the Gregory Street Courts.
 
SCOUTING BRADLEY
  • The Braves started MVC play with a 5-2 loss at Belmont. The program has lost four of its last six matches.
  • Bradley is 5-1 in home matches this season, with its only loss coming against Northern Illinois in mid-February.
  • UIC's won the past seven matches against Bradley, including a 7-0 victory last season in Chicago. The Flames trail in the overall series 9-11.
SCOUTING ILLINOIS STATE
  • The Redbirds opened MVC action with a 4-3 win at Belmont and a 4-3 loss at Murray State.
  • Illinois State is 5-1 in home matches this season. Saturday's contest will be ISU's first home match of the season outdoors at the Gregory Street Courts.
  • Over the last 20 years, UIC holds a 12-5 record against Illinois State and is 7-3 against ISU in the last ten meetings. UIC currently trails in the overall series 12-13.
  • The MVC named Illinois State's No. 1 doubles team of Tijana Zlatanovic and Lana Caculovic its Doubles team of the week after going 2-0 to open conference play. The duo is 11-3 on the season.
LAST MATCH RECAP
  • The Flames opened conference action with a 5-2 victory against Drake at the XS Tennis Village.
  • UIC 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.
  • 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.
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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