Oct. 21, 2000

Box Score

Chicago, Ill. - Behind a monster performance from junior Vicki Lublow the UIC volleyball team snapped its four-match losing streak with a 17-15, 12-15, 15-12, 15-5 triumph over Cleveland State Saturday afternoon at the UIC Pavilion.

Coming off the bench at the end of game one, Lublow tied the UIC single-match record for digs, with a career-best 33, while also tallying a match-high 20 kills. The outside hitter also reached the 20/20 plateau for the first time in her career and is just the second Flame to accomplish it this season.

The last Flame to reach 33 kills in a match was Claudine Borkovec back on Sept. 7, 1990 versus Wichita State.

"It feels great to get a win," commented head coach Don August whose UIC squad last won on Oct. 9 versus Bradley. "We got a great lift from Vicki and I thought we were very active on the floor tonight. This is a good team we played today, but we didn't want to be the first ones to give them a conference win."

With the victory, UIC improved to 14-8 on the season and 3-4 in the Midwestern Collegiate Conference while Cleveland State fell to 9-12, 0-8 in the league.

Lublow's performance wasn't the only highlight for UIC on Saturday, though. Sophomore Gina Caneva tallied a career-high 14 kills while junior Lynn Clarkson came up just short of a triple-double, finishing with 11 kills, 11 digs and eight blocks. The freshman combo of Teaha Shepperd and Lindsey Filkins was also strong as Shepperd posted 18 kills, 12 kills and five blocks while Filkins chipped in with 12 kills, 22 digs and four blocks. Senior Erica Anderson was steady with 59 assists and 14 digs.

As a team, UIC recorded 120 digs, an average of 30 per game, which is well above the 18.5 dpg they average during the season. The Flames also were paced by 10 service aces in the match, led by three from junior Kim Forster.

Senior Michele Smith led the Vikings, who had five players finish with double-double performances. Smith tallied 18 kills, 16 digs four blocks and two service aces in the loss.

The match could have gone either way on Saturday as both teams had their chances in the first three games. Cleveland State jumped out to a 14-9 lead in the first frame, but was unable to control a late UIC rally as they stormed back for a 17-15 triumph. Shepperd, Caneva and Lynn Clarkson paved the way for the Flames' comeback as each tallied seven kills in the game.

Game two was similar to game one as the Vikings jumped out to early leads of 6-3, 10-5 and eventually 14-7 before UIC, once again, would come storming back. This time, though, Cleveland State withstood the Flames charge and evened the match with a 15-12 victory.

It was UIC's turn to squander a lead in the third game as they watched an early 6-2 advantage vanish as the two squads battled to an eventual 11-11 tie. A pair of kills by Lublow put the Flames up 13-11. Then after CSU answered back to make it 13-12, a service ace by Forster and a kill off her own great dig by Filkins gave UIC a 2-1 edge in the match as they took game three 15-12.

Game four was tight early as the two teams were tied at 5-5, but the Flames exploded from there, rattling off 10 unanswered points to win the game and the match 15-5.

UIC is back at home on Tuesday, Oct. 24, as they welcome crosstown rival DePaul, to the UIC Pavilion for a non-conference match starting at 7:00 p.m.