CHICAGO – The UIC women's volleyball team took its first defeat of the season Friday evening, 3-1 (18-25, 25-20, 15-25, 24-26), to SIUE in its first match of the UIC Invitational. The Flames ignited a comeback late in the fourth set, but were unable to close out the game to force a game five.

UIC won its first 10 matches of the season as it ignited with the best start in program history. The team's 10 consecutive victories tied for the most in program annals with the 1986 squad.

Outside hitter Kelsie Groot registered 15 kills and was just two digs shy of her ninth double-double. Sophomore Ali Witt registered an attack percentage of .286 (10k-4e-21a) to lead the Flames on offense, while senior Kara Johnson earned 18 digs to pace UIC's defense.

"All credit goes to SIUE tonight," said UIC head coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley. "They came out with more energy at the start, and really put us in a lot of adverse situations. We responded a few times throughout the match, but overall they were the aggressor throughout the entire night."

The Flames got off to a rocky start in the first set, trailing SIUE 23-16. Senior Alyssa Ehrhardt and Witt chipped in the last two points for UIC before they fell 25-18.

The Flames came out reenergized in the second stanza. The home team roared out to an 8-0 lead to open up set two, and never trailed through the set. The Cougars chipped away at the lead, eventually coming within one at the 21-20 mark. But a pair of kills by Groot and Casey Harris, along with a pair of attack errors by SIUE's Ashley Witt, made the match even at one apiece.

UIC once again struggled through the third frame, committing costly errors that allowed the Cougars to create a 22-14 cushion late in the set. A UIC error and a kill led by SIUE's Witt gave the Cougars a 25-15 victory in the set, and a 2-1 lead in the match.

SIUE led by as many as seven points in the fourth set, but the home side would not go away easily. The Flames fought through the fourth frame time and again to keep themselves alive. UIC eventually tied the affair at 17 points apiece with Gaia Gbola serving, after a big run with Grace Murphy at the line. Later, with the game tied at 24, a kill by SIUE's Taylor Joens and a UIC attack error gave the Cougars the last two points they would need to secure the 3-1 win.

UIC will wrap up its home tournament tomorrow with matches against UMass Lowell (10 a.m. CT) and Bowling Green (5 p.m.). Live stats for both matches are available on the schedule page as well as the tournament page, and will be streamed live on ESPN3.