Oct. 13, 2011
CHICAGO - The UIC volleyball team (12-7/5-3 in Horizon League) plays host to Valparaiso (14-8/5-3 in Horizon League) Friday at 7:00 p.m. (CT) inside the Flames Athletic Center in Chicago, Ill.
"We are looking forward to being back inside the Flames Athletic Center," head coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley says. "We have been working hard in the gym to get ready for the match and are excited to begin the second half of Horizon League play."
SCOUTING THE FLAMES: UIC has posted a 12-7 record with a 5-3 record in the Horizon League. Kelsey Safranek (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove South) has hammered down 291 kills on the season to place her atop the conference list of kills per set at a clip of 4.16. Freshman Sara Sternard (Clarendon Hills, Ill./Westmont) and junior redshirt captain Janise Dismuke (Peoria, Ill./Richwoods) are in third place (.342) and fifth place (.317), in that order in the league for hitting percentage. Sophomore captain MaryKate Imrie (Orland Park, Ill./Sandburg) leads the Horizon League in assists per set with 10.84.
SCOUTING THE CRUSADERS: Valparaiso enters the match with a 14-8 record, including a 5-3 Horizon League record. Sarah Dooms leads the squad in kills with 193 on 643 attempts for a hitting percentage of .146. The Crusaders lead the Horizon League in digs with 1,387 for an average of 17.78 per set. Taylor Root leads the team in digs for an average of 5.15 per set. Root ranks second in the conference in digs and was selected as the Horizon League Defensive Player of the Week for the week of August 22-28. Morgan Beil also garnered weekly honors as she was the Offensive Player of the Week for September 12-18.
TWO FOR THE PRICE OF ONE: In addition to the volleyball squad being at home, the soccer team is playing host to Cleveland State at Flames Field. Fans can purchase tickets to both events for the price of one.
FLAMES ON A ROLL: The UIC squad began the season on a five-match winning streak as the team defeated Nebraska-Omaha (3-1), Bradley (3-0), Western Illinois (3-1), DePaul (3-1) and Montana State (3-1). The five-match winning streak marked the best start a Flames volleyball team has had since 2000 when the squad began the season with a 6-0 run. Before the 3-0 loss to Milwaukee, UIC had its second five-match winning streak, beginning with a victory over Chicago State (3-0), Loyola (3-1), Green Bay (3-2), Butler (3-2) and Wright State (3-0).
FLAMES PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: Safranek and Sternard have both been selected as the Horizon League Offensive Player of the Week. Safranek earned the honor during the week of Sept. 5 after her stellar play at the Dunn Hospitality Invitational where totaled 55 kills at a clip of .202, while chipping in 33 digs and three service aces to earn herself a spot on the all-tournament team. Sternard was selected for the week of Sept. 19 after her solid play in the 3-1 victory over Loyola (Sept. 23), followed by edging out Green Bay, 3-2 on Sept. 24. Sternard had eight kills at a clip of .538 against the Ramblers and 12 kills with a .600 hitting percentage against Green Bay.
ALL-TOURNAMENT SELECTIONS: The Flames began their season at Bradley's tournament, the CEFCU Classic, where Dismuke returned to her hometown to be selected as the tournament MVP, while Safranek and Imrie were named to the all-tournament team. UIC then welcomed DePaul, Loyola and Northwestern to the Flames Athletic Facility for the Chicagoland Challenge and Safranek and Sternard earned all-tournament honors. During the final tournament, the Dunn Hospitality Invitational, Safranek was again selected as a member of the all-tournament team.
CONFERENCE PLAY UNDERWAY: The Flames opened their conference season with a 3-0 loss to Valparaiso Sept. 14, before winning back-to-back conference victories over Loyola and Green Bay. UIC defeated the Ramblers (Sept. 23) in a 3-1 decision, followed by a 3-2 victory over Green Bay Sept. 24. The Flames improved their winning streak to five-consecutive matches after defeating Butler, 3-2 (Sept. 30) and Wright State, 3-0 to kick off the month of October. Milwaukee snapped the Flames streak as the undefeated conference foe downed UIC, 3-0. UIC split decisions with Youngstown State and Cleveland State as the Flames rolled the Penguins 3-0 (Oct. 8), before dropping 3-0 to the Vikings on Oct. 9.
LAST TIME OUT: UIC fell in straight sets (23-25, 17-25, 20-5) to the Cleveland State Vikings Oct. 9 at the Flames Athletic Center in Chicago, Ill. Allgood knocked down 10 kills at a clip of .333 to lead the Flames in hitting percentage.
HORIZON LEAGUE LEADERS: Sternard ranks third in hitting percentage in the Horizon League at a clip of .336 with 113 kills off of 262 total attempts. Imrie remains in the lead with 10.84 assists per set and has set up her teammates 759 times this season. Safranek leads the conference 291 kills with an average of 4.16 kills per set.
FOLLOWING THE FLAMES VOLLEYBALL SQUAD: Fans can follow the UIC volleyball squad through live stats or a live stream, which can be found at UICFlames.com.
--UIC—
