Sept. 25, 2010
Box Score
CHICAGO - The UIC women's volleyball came out looking to make a statement on Saturday afternoon against visiting Loyola and they did just that by knocking off the Ramblers, 3-1 (25-23, 25-15, 29-31, 25-14), inside the Physical Education Building.
UIC (7-7, 2-2 Horizon League) spread the wealth all afternoon long with four players registering double-digit kills in the win. Kelsey Safranek led all players in the match with a 16-kill outburst. The sophomore also added 11 kills, while senior Casie Sullivan chipped in with 15 kills and a match-best 20 digs.
"When we play together as a team we've shown that we can be a pretty good team," said Flames head coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley. "We have to keep working, but we've done a lot of nice things this weekend."
The two teams traded punches in the opening set until UIC eventually built a four-point lead at 20-16 following an attacking error on Loyola (6-7, 0-3 Horizon League). The Ramblers, however, would not go away and eventually tied the set at 23 apiece which prompted Schumacher-Cawley to call a quick timeout. Following the stoppage, Safranek and Sullivan hammered home back-to-back kills to give the Flames the set victory.
UIC was in control for the majority of the second building an early 6-1 lead, four different 10-point advantages and a big 15-point margin at 23-8. Loyola would go on to score seven of the next eight points in the set until another kill off the hand of Safranek sealed it yet again.
The third set the most tightly contested of the afternoon with no more than four points separating the two rivals at any point during the frame. When the dust settled an attacking error on the Flames and a kill by Loyola's Colleen Francis broke a 29-29 tie and gave the Ramblers new life.
The persistent Flames were not going to be held down and went back to flexing their muscle in the fourth and final set. As a team, UIC hit at an eye-popping clip of .400 (15-3-30) and tallied three blocks, all while holding Loyola to a hitting percentage of .000 with seven kills and seven errors in 31 attempts.
Safranek led all players with five kills in the final set, while redshirt freshman Aubrey Sniegowski added four of her total 11 for the afternoon.
Redshirt sophomore Janise Dismuke was the fourth UIC player to notch double-digit kills with 10. The Peoria, Ill. native committed only one attacking error and posted the match's top hitting percentage with a mark of .600 (10-1-25).
"Today was a turning point for us," said Safranek after the match. "We know what can happen when we continue to fight hard and show how we can play as a team."
Sullivan acknowledged how important it would be to have a strong showing following three straight losses at home.
"We wanted to make a statement today," said the senior. "Coming back after last's night five-set loss was tough, but we prepared ourselves well and played well today."
With the victory, the Flames move to 2-2 in Horizon League play with another important weekend looming ahead when they travel to Wright State and Butler on Oct. 1 and 2.
"We have to continue to get better in the gym every single day," said Schumacher-Cawley. "We're going up against two tough teams again next weekend and we need to give them our best effort."
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