Sept. 1, 2011

Chicagoland Challenge Notes

CHICAGO - The UIC volleyball team faces DePaul in its Chicagoland Challenge opening match at 7:00 p.m. (CT) inside of the Flames Athletic Center in Chicago, Ill.

The Flames is set to follow the opening match of the tournament, which features Northwestern and Loyola with a 5:00 p.m. start.

NEWCOMER NOTABLES

The Flames' 15-person roster welcomes eight newcomers to the court this season. Among them are Maggie Strus (Hickory Hills, Ill./Stagg), who had a medical redshirt in 2010, freshmen Dominique Aramburu (Chicago, Ill./Mother McAuley), Tracy Friel (Crystal Lake, Ill./Crystal Lake Central), Tia Incapreo (Hampshire, Ill./Hampshire), Tyler Jones (Chicago, Ill./Jones College Prep), Lauren Kraemer (Kettering, Ohio/Kettering-Fairmont), Molly McCoy (St. Charles, Ill./Wheaton Academy) and Sara Sternard (Clarendon Hills, Ill./Westmont). Strus is ranked second in the conference for service aces as she has picked up eight to begin the season.

KILLIN' IT

The Flames currently lead their opponents 140-126 in kills. Junior Kelsey Safranek (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove South) currently leads the squad with 44 kills and is followed by redshirt junior co-captain Janise Dismuke (Peoria, Ill./Richwoods), who has compiled 35 kills through the first three matches. Within the Horizon League, Safranek leads in kills per set as the outside hitter has averaged 4.00, while Dismuke leds the league in hitting percentage with a clip of .397 and led the League in 2010 at .311.

SHARING THE LOVE

Sophomore co-captain MaryKate Imrie (Orland Park, Ill./Sandburg) began the season with back-to-back double-doubles as she claimed 14 digs and 35 assists in the victory over Nebraska-Omaha and added 12 digs and handed out 38 assists in the sweep over Bradley. The setter added a career-high 45 assists Tuesday as the Flames downed Western Illinois, 3-1. Imrie has totaled 118 assists at an average of 10.73 per set to lead the Horizon League Conference.

ON A ROLL

UIC's 3-1(17-25, 25-15, 25-16, 25-22) victory over Western Illinois gave the squad a 3-0 record to begin the season. The three-match winning streak marks the best start a Flames volleyball team has had since 2000 when the squad began the season with a 6-0 run. The 2000 Flames team defeated Southeast Louisiana, Indiana State, Youngstown State, Fairfield, Hofstra and UMass to begin the campaign.

PENN STATE PALS

UIC head coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley and DePaul head coach Nadia Edwards attended Penn State together, and in four seasons compiled a 123-16 record. The duo also assisted the Nittany Lions to a National Championship during the 1999 season, while finishing runner-up during the 1997 and '98 campaigns. Off the court, Schumacher-Cawley and Edwards shared dish-washing and garbage duties as they were roommates each year at Penn State.

SWEET HOME CHICAGO

Assistant coach Ellen Hayes, a Chicago native, attended DePaul, where she was a four-time letterwinner for the Blue Demons. Hayes graduated with a degree in secondary education with a concentration in English, before earning her master's degree from Marshall in 2009. She then returned home to Chicago and joined Schumacher-Cawley and the Flames volleyball crew. Hayes ranks fifth all-time in digs for DePaul with 510, just missing the fourth-place spot by one.

HORIZON LEAGUE

The Flames welcome fellow Horizon League member Loyola, to the Chicagoland Classic. The Flames begin the tournament playing DePaul, while the Ramblers face Northwestern. If the two conference opponents meet up, they will play each other at least three times during the 2011 campaign. The teams meet Sept. 23, at the Gentile Center and again Oct. 22, at the Flames Athletic Center.

Fans can follow all the action of the match with live statistics and a live video stream through UICFlames.com.