April 28, 2002

Indianapolis, Ind. - The University of Illinois at Chicago women's tennis team had done it before, but the Flames wanted to do it in style in 2002.

It was stylish indeed, as the top-seeded Flames won their sixth-straight Horizon League Tennis tournament on Sunday, beating No.2 Butler, 5-0 to garner the league's automatic NCAA Tournament bid for the fourth consecutive season.

Only Notre Dame (1988-1994) has won more consecutive league crowns with seven.

What makes the league season so impressive is the fact that the Flames have gone 10-0 in competition versus familiar foes, without losing a match, going 63-0 in singles and doubles play.

"Going into the matches on Saturday, the girls were focused and ready to go," said head coach Shannon Tully. "Today the condition were poor, but they were determined to get the win."

The Flames started their march to the title with an easy 5-0 win over No.8 UW-Milwaukee in the first-round, as Ayca Gumuscu (No.2), Britta Dohmann (No.3), Zvjezdana Malesevic (No.5) and Kim Harris (No.6) each won singles matches in straight sets by a score of, 6-0, 6-0.

In doubles action, Nicole Derouin joined Gumuscu at No.1 doubles for an 8-4 win, while Dohmann and Zvjezdana Malesevic won at No.2 doubles, 8-2, and Alyson Stalzer and Karen Liwanpo won the third doubles match, 8-3.

In the semifinals against fourth-seeded Youngstown State, UIC was just as impressive with another 5-0 win.

Derouin, Gumuscu, Dohmann and Liwanpo won singles matches in straight sets, while the Flames won all three doubles matches.

Derouin and Gumuscu won the No.1 match, 8-1, beating Banks and Marino, while Dohmann and Zvjezdana Malesevic won the second doubles match, 8-1 over Haygood and Meister. Stalzer and Liwanpo took care of the No.3 match, 8-2, beating Rothenberg and Vodhanel.

After the first two rounds were played indoors due to poor weather conditions, the final round was outside in less than perfect conditions, with winds gusting to 30 miles per hour.

The championship match versus Butler saw the Flames move swiftly through the Bulldogs' line-up, winning 4-0.

Derouin won the No.1 singles match, 6-4, 6-2, over Amy Steiner, while Zvjezdana Malesevic took the fifth singles match, 6-2, 6-1, over Mindy Champion. Zorica Malesevic then won the No.6 singles match, blanking Laurel Clements, 6-0, 6-0.

The Flames won the doubles point easily with the team of Derouin and Gumuscu winning the No.1 match, 8-2 over Olivia Pedro and Steiner.

Dohmann paired with Zvjezdana Malesevic for the No.2 doubles win, defeating Molly Figel and Christina Laun, 8-2.

The Flames (17-11) will learn their postseason opponent on Thursday, as the NCAA will announce the pairings via a live webcast at 6:00 PM central time (http://www.ncaachampionships.com).