Oct. 24, 2009
Box Score
CHICAGO - After winning the first two sets, the UIC volleyball team quashed any chance of Youngstown State upending the Flames on their home court, defeating the Penguins in five sets on Saturday afternoon.
The Flames (12-13, 6-5 Horizon), who fell to the Penguins (7-15, 5-7 Horizon) in five sets on the road September 26, found themselves very evenly matched against their opponent from Ohio.
UIC broke a 16-16 tie in the first set with a 4-2 run aided by a number of Penguin errors and a Casie Sullivan kill. Kelsey Safranek, who has assisted the Flames in closing out close matches, slammed down a kill at 22-19, and a pair of kills from Nicole Allgood posted the 25-21 victory for the Flames.
Lana Lobdell picked up four of her 11 kills on the day in the second set, helping the home team gain the largest lead of the series at seven and closed out the game at a 25-19 advantage.
The penguins picked up consecutive 25-19 victories of their own in the third and fourth set, but the Flames took control of the deciding set from the get-go, jumping out to a 4-0 lead with kills from Safranek, Lobdell and Sullivan.
Youngstown pulled things within reach at 6-5, but UIC would not commit another error for the rest of the set, outdistancing the Penguins by a margin as large as five and closed out the match in the Flames favor at 15-8.
The junior Sullivan picked up 15 digs along with her 16 kills for her ninth double-double of the season. Safranek led the team with 17 kills, while Jessica Dalke nabbed 49 of UICs 54 assists on the outing.
Youngstown State's Ruth Boscalion had a match-high 20 kills.
"A win at home is a great thing," said UIC head coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley. "I thought we came out aggressive in the fifth game and finished well."
"Youngstown State fought hard, but we pulled it out and put ourselves in a better position to get into the Horizon League tournament," said Schumacher-Cawley. "We just need to keep winning."
The victory marks the first five-set league win for UIC this season.
The Flames take a break from Horizon League action with a non-conference match-up with DePaul in Lincoln Park on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
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1. Download the free UIC Athletics Widget and click on the "UIC Flames Podcasts" link
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