Oct. 27, 2011
CHICAGO - The UIC volleyball team (14-9/7-4 in Horizon League) resumes conference play Friday as the squad travels to Dayton, Ohio to face Wright State Friday at 6:00 p.m. (CT) inside the C.J. McLin Gymnasium, followed by a match with Butler Saturday at 3:00 p.m. in the Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Ind.
SCOUTING THE FLAMES: UIC has posted a 14-9 record with a 7-4 record in Horizon League play. Kelsey Safranek (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove South) has hammered down 359 kills on the season to place her atop the conference list of kills per set at a clip of 4.33. Freshman Sara Sternard (Clarendon Hills, Ill./Westmont) and junior redshirt captain Janise Dismuke (Peoria, Ill./Richwoods) are in fifth place (.315) and sixth place (.295), 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 11.13. The UIC squad is in the third-place spot in assists (12.11/set) and kills at 13.28 per set.
SCOUTING THE RAIDERS: Wright State has compiled a 3-21 overall record with a 2-9 record in conference play. Sophomore Heidi Splinter is in seventh place among kills per set leaders. She has had 234 kills with an average of 2.89 per set. Splinter is in fourth place in service aces as she has blanker her opponents 25 times, while she sits in the eighth-place spot in digs per set at 3.14.
SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS: The Butler team has a 10-13 record, including 6-5 in the Horizon League. Senior Maureen Bamiro ranks seventh in hitting percentage (.295), while is 10th in kills per set with 2.83. Sophomore Maggie Harbison is in third place in blocks (1.06/set), while Brooke Ruffolo is fourth in digs per set (4.43) and Gina Vera is fifth in assists per set at 9.93.
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, but rebounded with back-to-back sweeping victories over Green Bay (Oct. 21) and Loyola on Oct. 22.
LAST TIME OUT: The UIC volleyball squad was perfect in 3-0 victories over both Green Bay and Loyola. The Flames didn't drop a single set, while Aubrey Sniegowski (Lemont, Ill./Lemont Township) had 12 kills (.706) in the win over the Phoenix, while Allgood knocked down 13 kills at .345 to lead the Flames to a win over Loyola.
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.
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