Oct. 2, 2000

MILWAUKEE, WI. - UIC men's tennis coach Chuck Cunningham implemented a game plan for his squad at the Marquette Singles Invitational this past weekend.

Cunningham wasn't overly concerned with the results of the match because he wanted to see his team become better tennis players.

So Cunningham issued four rules for his team: 1. Become more aggressive, 2. Go to the net for serve-returns, 3. Attack all short balls, 4. Maintain composure.

"My goal was for them to learn and break through their comfort zones," Cunningham said. "I was very pleased with their effort. They let me coach. They thought about those four rules and not about the results of the match."

Wade Clark and Aaron Apilado heeded Cunningham's advice and advanced to consolation finals of their respective flights.

Cunningham saw No. 1 singles player Nick Bodmer eliminated from the tournament after losing his first two matches.

Clark dropped his first match of the day on Friday against UW-Green Bay's Barry Hankel (6-0, 6-1). The junior bounced back in his first consolation match with a 8-4 victory over Valparaiso's Jon Huffman.

Clark, however, fell to Wright State's Quincy Jones in the consolation finals.

Apilado had a relatively easy time of reaching the Flight 6 consolation finals. The senior received a bye to the championship semifinals before being dispatched by Northern Iowa's Tim Kalis (6-1, 6-1).

Apilado quickly recovered and defeated Chicago State's Randy James (8-3) to advance to the consolation finals.

Apilado, however, was blanked in by Northern Illinois' Ryan Schrack (6-0, 6-0).

Bodmer, the Flight A singles champion at Western Illinois last week, dropped his first match to Northern Illinois' Raymond Van Wasbeek (7-6, 6-2). Van Wasbeek then disposed of UW-Green Bay's Robert Shamelikian to advance to the championship finals.

That set the stage for a match between 2000 All-Midwestern Collegiate Conference selections Bodmer and Shamelikian in the consolation quarterfinals.

Shamelikian, the 2000 MCC Newcomer of the year, emerged victorious with a 8-5 win over Bodmer.

In other Flames action, Jon Schmidt dropped his first match of the day against Chicago State's Leslie Moore in the Flight 2 competition. Schmidt was eliminated from the tournament after UW-Green Bay's Victor Capato defeated Moore, 6-3, 6-4, in the championship semifinals.

Amol Desai fell in his first match of the day on Friday against Northern Illinois' Tim Freesen (6-2, 6-0) in the Flight 4 division. Valparaiso's Mirza Mahic then booted Desai from the tournament with a 8-3 victory over the freshman in the consolation semifinals.