CHICAGO (GreenBayPhoenix.com) - The Green Bay men's tennis team split a pair of road matches over the weekend, battling to a 5-2 win over UIC on Saturday in its Horizon League opener after falling 7-0 at Wisconsin on Friday. The Phoenix is now 7-4 in dual matches on the year.

After dropping the doubles point to the Flames on Saturday, Green Bay stormed back to take five of the six singles matches for the win.

"It's great to start out the conference season on the road with a win over UIC, who has finished second in the Horizon League in each of the last 6 years," Green Bay head coach Mark Thomas said. "We served for the doubles point, but the guys didn't let that get to them. They took the momentum back getting out to a quick start in singles." 

Reigning Horizon League Player of the Week Erik Finkenbrink (Duelman, Germany) had another strong performance against UIC, winning at No. 1 singles and No. 2 doubles. The sophomore came from behind to defeat Alexander Raa 4-6, 6-1, 6-1 after teaming up with Josh Oothoudt (Minot, N.D.) for an 8-7(5) win over Scott Shepardson and Nathan Kirk.

Junior Paul Swanson (Coon Rapids, Minn.) earned a win at No. 2 singles, beating Kirk 6-3, 7-6(3), while sophomore Craig Cox (Surrey, England) won at the No. 3 spot, defeating UIC's James Li 6-4, 6-2. Also taking singles wins for the Phoenix were Fabian Gogolin (Cologne, Germany) and Henning Jess (Kaltenkirchen, Germany), who won at the No. 5 and No. 6 spots.

The Green Bay men's tennis squad returns to action on Saturday, March 19 when it travels to Valparaiso to continue its Horizon League schedule at 2 p.m. CT.

Wisconsin 7, Green Bay 0
Singles
1. Marek Michalicka (WIS) def. Erik Finkenbrink (GB) 6-1, 6-2
2. Billy Bertha (WIS) def. Paul Swanson (GB) 6-4, 6-4
3. Ricardo Martin (WIS) def. Craig Cox (GB) 6-3, 2-6, 6-2
4. Petr Satral (WIS) def. Christoph Hopfe (GB) 7-6, 6-4
5. Rodney Carey (WIS) def. Fabian Gogolin (GB) 7-5, 6-3
6. Alex Robles (WIS) def. Henning Jess (GB) 6-4, 6-2

Doubles
1. Bertha/Michalicka (WIS) def. Oothoudt/Finkenbrink (GB) 8-3
2. Cox/Gogolin (GB) def. Satral/Robles (WIS) 8-7 (7-1)
3. Carey/Martin (WIS) def. Hopfe/Jess (GB) 8-3

Green Bay 5, UIC 2
Singles
1. Erik Finkenbrink (GB) def. Alexander Raa (UIC) 4-6, 6-1, 6-1
2. Paul Swanson (GB) def. Nathan Kirk (UIC) 6-3, 7-6(3)
3. Craig Cox (GB) def. James Li (UIC) 6-4, 6-2
4. Luiz Gonzaga (UIC) def. Christoph Hopfe (GB) 3-6, 6-3, 10-8
5. Fabian Gogolin (GB) def. Alan Reifer (UIC) 6-2, 7-6(5)
6. Henning Jess (GB) def. Dave Robare (UIC) 6-3, 6-2

Doubles
1. Raa/Robare (UIC) def. Cox/Gogolin (GB) 9-7
2. Finkenbrink/Oothoudt (GB) def. Shepardson/Kirk (UIC) 8-7(5)
3. Gonzaga/Reifer (UIC) def. Hopfe/Jess (GB) 8-6