Sept. 26, 2011

CHICAGO - Freshman middle hitter Sara Sternard(Clarendon Hills, Ill./Westmont) was selected as the Horizon League Offensive Player of the Week after logging a .538 hitting percentage Friday and .600 Saturday to help the Flames to back-to-back conference victories, it was announced by the conference office Monday morning.

"This is a great honor for Sara and a true testament to all of her hard work so far this season," head coach Katie Schumacher-Cawleysaid. "It is also a great reflection of our team as a whole. We need to continue keep working to get better as we are approaching a big weekend of home competition."

Sternard earned the conference honor after her solid play in Friday's 3-1 victory over Loyola, followed by edging out Green Bay, 3-2 Saturday. Sternard had eight kills at a clip of .538 against the Ramblers. Saturday, the freshman bested her Friday performance as she had 12 kills with a .600 hitting percentage against Green Bay.

Sternard currently leads the conference in hitting percentage at .500 through 12 sets with 25 kills and a mere one error.

Sternard and the Flames were 3-0 on the week. In addition to defeating Loyola and Green Bay, the squad downed Chicago State (Sept. 19) in a 3-0 decision. UIC is now 9-5 on the season and 2-1 in conference play. The 9-5 start marks the best start since 2002.

The Flames squad returns to action Friday in a match against Butler at the Flames Athletic Center at 7:00 p.m. (CT), followed by a match against Wright State Saturday at 4:00 p.m.