Sept. 13, 2001

Box Score

Chicago, Ill. - University of Illinois at Chicago volleyball coach Don August expected his squad to contend for a championship at this weekend's Blue Demon Invitational at DePaul University.

He didn't expect to do it so soon.

Because of the recent national tragedy, neither Mississippi State nor Toledo made the trip to the 'Windy City,' leaving UIC and host DePaul for the title.

DePaul, however, put an end to August's hopes as the Blue Demons downed UIC, 30-22, 30-22, 28-30, 30-19 for the title at the DePaul Athletic Center on Thursday night for the championship.

"DePaul played very good," August said. "We didn't play poorly, they did five or six things that we didn't do.

"Their defense was better than ours," August continued. "It allowed more opportunities for them to attack.

"They just outplayed us in most aspects."

DePaul (7-0), who had recently swept Horizon League preseason favorite UW-Milwaukee, took command early on in the first two games but not without a battle from UIC.

The Flames finally got over the hump in the third game as the contest featured 13 ties and six lead changes en route to the 30-28 victory.

Senior Vicki Lublow (Elgin, Ill./Elgin-Larkin) led the charge as she garnered six consecutive service points and a service ace to bring the Flames back from a 19-18 deficit to a 24-19 lead.

Lublow, was aided by two kills and a block by senior middle hitter Lynn Clarkson (LaPorte, Ind./LaPorte) during the streak.

DePaul, however, made quick work of the Flames in the final game as sophomore Lara Marks collected eight kills to lead the Blue Demons to the 30-19 victory and the match.

UIC will be back in action on Tuesday, as they will travel to Peoria, Ill., to take on the Bradley Braves at 7:00 p.m.