Women’s tennis shines; soccer comes up short

Kathryn Sharples grabbed her second championship. Photo: Steve Woltmann

Women’s tennis team shines at invitational
The women’s tennis team faced tough competition Sunday as they concluded play at the Michigan State Invitational.

Kathryn Sharples came away with her second championship this season, taking the finals of the Draw D bracket. Jana Knoppe and Keti Mebuke advanced to their finals matches.

“We had a great showing at Michigan State in singles,” head coach Shannon Tully said.

“Kathryn Sharples, Jana Knoppe and Keti Mebuke really got some hard-fought wins. Kathryn stepped it up all weekend, getting an impressive win over a solid Purdue opponent.

“Although the matches didn’t go our way in the finals of the other flights, I can’t complain about two close losses to good opponents. We will keep pushing forward with a focus on doubles.”

The Flames compete in their third invite of the season Friday at the Northwestern Invitational.

Soccer comes up short
Senior midfielder Ivan Stanisavljevic scored his fifth goal of the season Saturday, but the soccer team saw its five-game unbeaten streak come to an end in a 2-1 overtime decision against Milwaukee at Engelmann Field.

With the setback, UIC moved to 4-5-2 on the season (1-1-1 Horizon League).

“This was another great rivalry game against Milwaukee,” head coach Sean Phillips said. “After Milwaukee went up deservedly with a great goal, the boys showed a tremendous amount of resilience in continuing to play and work throughout a large amount of the remainder of the game.”

UIC hosts Loyola at 7 p.m. today at Flames Field.

The Flames will play Drake Saturday in the nonconference finale in Des Moines, Iowa.