Good news galore

What a week it was for the UIC tennis programs. And that's without even mentioning yesterday's Horizon League championship matches.

The NCAA-qualifying matches were too late for press time, but there's still plenty to talk about surrounding both UIC tennis teams.

The women's squad picked up its 100th consecutive victory Apr. 19 against League rival Butler. The Flames won the match 5-2.

In top doubles, sophomore Kristen McPhillips and senior Lubica Nadasska defeated Gabriella Bobrowski and Natali James 9-8, winning the tiebreaker 7-2. Freshman Ilinca Cristescu and sophomore Jenna Reisch nailed down the doubles point for the Flames at the third position with a 7-3 victory in the tiebreaker, defeating Michelle Hawes and Tiffany McLoughlin, 9-8.

In singles play, UIC came out strong as three of the top four matches were decided in straight sets.

Cristescu defeated the 2007 Horizon League Newcommer of the Year, Molly Casperson with ease, taking the match 6-0, 6-1.

Nadasska and McPhillips came through for the Flames in doubles as well as singles, winning at the second and third positions.

Senior Grace Gill-Morlis closed out the day for UIC, bouncing back from a first set shut-out to defeat Becky Jenkins in the lone three-set match of the day, taking No. 4 singles 0-6, 6-1, 6-2.

The squad's 100 consecutive league wins marks one of the longest streaks in the nation. Heading into this past weekend's HL championships, the Flames have not dropped a match, either in the regular season or at the Horizon League tournament, since Apr. 21, 1996, when the Flames fell 5-4 to Green Bay in the league championship final.

The women downed Cleveland State the next morning, by a close 4-3 score to extend the streak to 101.

The good news kept coming throughout the week as the individual honors that accompanies such dominance poured in.

At the Horizon League banquet, Cristescu was named both the League newcomer of the year and the overall player of the year. As the Flames top competitor all season, Cristescu amassed a perfect 8-0 record in singles and 7-0 mark in doubles. The Bensenville native joined Nadasska and McPhillips on the Horizon League first team.

Coach Shannon Tully was recognized as the top coach in the League for the third consecutive time and fifth time in her seven seasons at UIC. Tully guided her team to another perfect League season and another top seed in the HL championships.

But the award party was not only open to the women's team. The UIC men's tennis program took home some hardware after their second-place finish in the Horizon League regular season. They also had the conference championship final yesterday, and results are unavailable. Visit UICFlames.com for updated information.

After finishing the season at 5-1 in conference, senior Eric Fey, junior Adriano Liccardo, and sophomores Bastian Harbo and Sebastian Lystad were all named to the Horizon League second team.

Fey, UIC's all-time leader in doubles victories for a career, went 5-1 against Horizon League opponents, only falling in a tight tiebreaker match against Butler. Fey was also named the recipient of the Herb Foster Sportsmanship Award. The honor recognizes "student-athletes who display admirable conduct both on and off the court."

This is the first season the Flames have had more than two student-athletes receive league honors since the 1998 season.

Also joining in on the recognition was UIC men's tennis coach Hans Neufeld. Neufeld was named HL coach of the year for the second time in his seven seasons at UIC. 2008 saw Neufeld defeat Butler for the first time of his career on Apr. 18, breaking the Bulldogs 49 match winning streak.