Box Score 

CHICAGO (4/12/2015) -- For the third time in the last three years, the University of Detroit Mercy women's tennis team was just too much for the perennial Horizon League power Flames as the Titans charged past UIC, 4-3, on Sunday.

The Titans  defeated the Flames last year in the HL Quarterfinals, 4-3, and also ended their 17-year, 146-match HL winning streak in 2013 with a 4-3 road tally.

The victory moved Detroit to 14-8 on the season – one away from tying a school record - and 6-1 in the Horizon League, while UIC dropped to 9-8 overall and 5-1 in league play. The sixth conference win means that UDM can finish no lower than third place in the regular season and keeps the red, white and blue in contention for a regular season title as well as a top-two finish in the conference, which would give them a bye in the first round of the championship. 

After dropping the doubles point, the Titans came back with four singles wins to clinch the triumph, which included a dominant performance and three gritty efforts.

It all came down to junior Irina Slizovskaya at fourth singles as she played a marathon of a match against Ann-Sophie Hahn, pushing it to three sets. She dropped the first set and then had four match points in the last before her counterpart came back to actually have a match point herself, but the Titan netter was able to gain the advantage and finally put it away, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (9).

The win was the 17th on the season for Slizovskaya, a new career high, as she moved to 4-2 on the year in conference action. 

Sophomore Anna Davydova provided the easiest win for the Titans as she swept Oana Manole, 6-0, 6-0, at No. 3 for her 11th-straight victory. Ten of her last 11 wins have come by straight sets and two have been sweeps of conference foes as she improved to 24-7 on the year and 7-0 in HL play. 

Sophomore Viktoria Laskutova had a come-from-behind win of her own as she defeated Bianca Zuzu, 1-6, 6-1, 6-4, at No. 5, while sophomore Nynke Van Der Goot surged past Melika LeBlanc at No. 6, 6-2, 7-6 (5).

Detroit was so close to taking a fifth singles match as freshman Sasha Nionova lost a three-set thriller, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (5), 7-5, at top singles.

The Titans will now get ready for the regular-season finale as the red, white and blue meet Oakland in a Metro Series battle on Saturday, April 18, at the Bloomfield Tennis and Fitness Center. The start of that match is scheduled for Noon.