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Zara Ryan
Mark Black

Women’s Tennis Embarks on Final Road Trip of Season

The Flames take on Missouri State Saturday morning and Murray State Sunday morning in MVC action

4/12/2024 12:00:00 PM

CHICAGO (April 12, 2024) – After winning back-to-back matches at home last weekend, the UIC women's tennis program (8-10, 4-1 MVC) is back on the road for its final away contest of the 2024 season, as the Flames take on Missouri State (10-8, 1-3 MVC) Saturday and Murray State (11-5, 4-0 MVC) Sunday. Saturday's contest will start at 10 a.m. CT from the Cooper Tennis Complex, while Sunday's match will take place starting at 12 p.m. CT at the Bennie Purcell Tennis Courts.

UIC is in third place in the Missouri Valley Conference standings with three matches left in the regular season. Murray State currently is in first place, while Murray State sits in sixth place.
 
SCOUTING MISSOURI STATE
  • The Bears are 10-8 on the season but 1-3 in conference play.
  • Missouri State is 6-1 at home, with its only loss coming in its last match against Drake.
  • Junior Nicole Ross is 10-3 on the season in singles competition, competing at the Nos. 5 and 6 singles spots. She is on an eight-match win streak.
  • The Flames are 2-0 all-time against the Bears. Last season the UIC won 6-1 against MSU in Chicago.
  • Live stats for Saturday's match can be found here.
SCOUTING MURRAY STATE
  • Murray State currently sits atop the MVC standings with a 11-5 overall record and a 4-0 record in conference play.
  • The Racers are on a four-match win streak and are 6-1 at home.
  • The Flames trail in the all-time series 3-1. The two teams faced each other twice last season. UIC won 5-2 in the record season but Murray State got the better of the Flames (4-3) in the Missouri Valley Conference Women's Tennis Championship Opening Round.
  • Sunday's contest will be UIC first road match at Murray State since joining the MVC.
LAST MATCH RECAP
  • Winning its fifth doubles point in a row along with four singles matches, the UIC women's tennis program handed Belmont its second conference loss of the season, as the Flames took down the Bruins 5-2 last Sunday at the XS Tennis Village.
  • The Flames won the doubles point behind victories by the No. 2 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.) and the No. 3 tandem of Zara Ryan (Dublin, Ireland/Utah State) and Paula Rodriguez Gregoris (Canary Islands, Spain/International School of Berne).
  • Belberka and Malazonia were down 5-3 in their match before winning the next four games to clinch the 7-5 victory.
  • In singles competition, Ryan continued her dominant play at No. 5 singles, defeating her opponent in straight sets.
  • At No. 4 singles Belberka took down her Belmont counterpart in straight sets, winning both sets by 6-3 scores. The sophomore has eight singles victories in 2024.
  • Down 5-2 in the second set, Anaïs Brion (Neuilly Sur Seine, France/Texas A&M - Corpus Christi) clinched the match victory for the Flames with a straight sets victory at No. 6 singles.
  • With the team match secured, Malazonia won her contest at No. 2 singles in three sets to earn her second victory in a row and sixth singles win this season.
  • The Flames have played two matches in a row without losing a singles match in straight sets. Both of UIC's singles losses Sunday were decided in three sets.
TRENDING FLAMES
  • UIC's doubles pair of Malazonia and Belberka has a team-high 11 doubles wins in 2024 and are on a nine-match win streak dating back to Feb. 10.
  • Zara Ryan leads the Flames with nine singles wins on the season and has won eight of her last ten matches.
  • Anaïs Brion has eight singles wins this year and is on a five-match win streak dating back to March 13.
ROAD WARRIORS
  • This weekend's contest will be UIC's 10th and 11th away matches this season.
  • The Flames are 3-6 in road contests in 2024 and are 2-2 in their last four away matches.
  • UIC's two road contests this weekend are its first away matches in April. 
SUPPORT THE CHICAGO COLLECTIVE
  • Fans are strongly encouraged to support NIL opportunities for UIC student-athletes through contributions to The Chicago Collective.
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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