Oct. 20, 2011
CHICAGO - The UIC volleyball team (12-9/5-4 in Horizon League) plays host to back-to-back conference opponents this weekend as the squad faces Green Bay Friday at 7:00 p.m. (CT) and cross-city rival Loyola Saturday at 4:00 p.m. Both matches take place in the Flames Athletic Center in Chicago, Ill.
"We are ready to compete this weekend," head coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley said. "We are looking forward to two great matches. Both Green Bay and Loyola are playing well, and we need to rise to the challenge."
SCOUTING THE FLAMES: UIC has posted a 12-9 record with a 5-4 record in Horizon League play. Kelsey Safranek (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove South) has hammered down 326 kills on the season to place her atop the conference list of kills per set at a clip of 4.23. Freshman Sara Sternard (Clarendon Hills, Ill./Westmont) and junior redshirt captain Janise Dismuke (Peoria, Ill./Richwoods) are in third place (.320) and sixth place (.293), 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 10.79.
SCOUTING THE PHOENIX: Green Bay enters the match with a 8-13 overall record, including 4-5 in conference play. Abbey Gitter leads the squad in kills with 225 at a clip of .279 and sits in the no. 10 spot in the Horizon League for hitting percentage. Carmen Leitermann has knocked down 206 kills at .282 to rank ninth in hitting percentage in the conference. Setter, Leah Poel 859 assists in the season and is third in the league with 10.48 per set. Leading the conference in digs is Brittany Groth as she has 426 at 5.26 per set. As a squad, the Phoenix are third in hitting percentage, third in assists, fourth in blocks, second in digs, sixth in kills and ninth in service aces.
SCOUTING THE RAMBLERS: Loyola has posted a 4-14 record this season with a 1-8 record in conference play. Laura Purcell leads the Ramblers in kills with 200 at a clip of .163 and sits in seventh place in the conference standings. Natalie Pounovich ranks eighth in hitting percentage as she has knocked down 86 kills at .282. Vicki Wrobel sits in the top-ten Horizon League rankings in assists (590) and service aces (25) for the Ramblers.
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 welcomed Valparaiso (Oct. 14) to the Flames Athletic Center and fell 3-0 to the Crusader squad.
LAST TIME OUT: UIC dropped 3-1 to Eastern Illinois at the Lantz Arena in Charleston, Ill., Monday. Allgood earned a double-double as she knocked down 12 kills, while earning 15 digs.
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—
