Sept. 4, 2009
BLOOMINGTON, Ind.- The UIC volleyball team opened play at the IU adidas Classic Friday afternoon with a 3-1 (25-15, 25-22, 16-25, 25-18) win against Murray State.
"I am very pleased with the team effort," head coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley said. "Our passers did a great job, giving Jess [Dalke] the ability to spread the offense. The goal is to keep improving."
Both teams came out of the gate playing even, with UIC (2-3) pulling away for the first time with a kill from Epiphany Davis to make the score 12-11 in favor of the Flames. A pair of service points from Emily Schaffer ran the UIC lead to 14-11 before Murray State (0-4) regained control of the ball.
The Racers would push the score to 22-15 before a Murray State error followed by a pair of service points from Nicole Allgood closed the door on set 1, 25-15.
Jessica Dalke led the way dishing out 10 assists in the first set, with Davis and Lana Lobdell each tallying three kills in the set. In all, the Flames out-hit UIC 15 kills to six in the first set.
Set two was more of a barn-burner, with Murray State racing out to an early 6-2 lead. The Flames climbed back into the set by stringing together seven straight points, with three coming on kills from Davis. After two more Racer points, UIC captured four straight to make the score 12-8 in favor of the Flames.
Murray State would tie the set at 16-16, but would never regain its early lead. UIC put together five straight points on a pair of Racer errors and kills from Allgood and Casie Sullivan to push the Flames' lead to 24-18, but Murray State answered back with three points to put the UIC fans on the edge of their seats for set point.
Sullivan closed out the second set with a kill from Dalke to give UIC the 25-22 win and the 2-0 lead in the match. Dalke added seven more assists to her running total in set two.
The Racers would not go down without a fight, however, holding the lead in set three.
The teams played even through a 10-9 score in favor of Murray State, with the Racers then pulling away by taking the next six points and the 18-10 lead. A UIC sideout on a Racer error followed by a pair of Sullivan kills put the score back to within five points, 18-13, but Murray State would close out the win and take set three 25-16.
The Flames got back to business at the beginning of the fourth set, putting together six straight points to break a 2-2 tie and take an 8-2 lead. A pair of kills from Sullivan and one from Davis punctuated the run.
Murray State would not get closer than four points to the Flames for the rest of the set, as UIC finished the set and the match on Sullivan's career-high 18th kill of the match.
Sullivan led the offense with her 18 kills, while Lobdell had 15. Dalke ended the match with 47 assists, while her 14 digs also led the Flames.
UIC continues play at the IU adidas Classic Saturday, facing off with Tennessee-Martin at 9 a.m. The Flames will then play host Indiana at 6 p.m.
Fans can listen to podcasts featuring exclusive interviews with UIC head coaches, staff and student-athletes in two ways:
1. Download the free UIC Athletics Widget and click on the "UIC Flames Podcasts" link
2. Download podcasts for free on iTunes by searching "UIC Flames."
Fans wishing to learn more about affordable and flexible UIC ticket plans are encouraged to call 312-413-UIC1 or visit www.uicflames.com and click on the "Tickets" tab on the Flames home page.
