Nov. 11, 2009
Final Stats
CHICAGO - The UIC volleyball team was unable to best its final non-conference opponent of the 2009 season, falling to Western Illinois in four sets (25-21, 20-25, 22-25, 22-25) Tuesday evening.
The Flames (15-16) allowed the Leathernecks (10-20) to creep out to a five-point lead in the opening set, but the home squad crawled back in as Lana Lobdell and Janise Dismuke cranked out five kills to take the lead at 13-12 which they never relinquished, and closed things out with a 25-21 set one win.
Western would go on and maintain a hold on the match from set two on, owning the attack percentage advantage over UIC, as well as limiting their errors in the match to nine in comparison to the Flames 22.
UIC stayed in contention in sets three and four, but were unable to find a rhythm and ran out of room to build toward a comeback as the Leathernecks closed out the match in their favor with a pair of 25-22 victories.
Kelsey Safranek led five Flames in double digit kills with 15, while Taylor Szatkowski had a game-high 17 digs. WIU's Katie Kosteng led all scorers with 19 kills.
The Flames close out the regular season and jostle for seeding in the upcoming Horizon League tournament when they host Loyola at 2p.m. Saturday will also serve as Senior Day, when the careers of Lana Lobdell and Emily Schaffer will be celebrated.
