Sept. 29, 2011

CHICAGO -The UIC volleyball team (9-5/2-1) is set to play host to Butler Friday at 7:00 p.m. (CT), followed by a match against Wright State Saturday at 4:00 p.m. (CT). Both matches take place in the Flames Athletic Center in Chicago, Ill.

"We are excited to be back home in the Flames Athletic Center," head coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley said. "Both Butler and Wright state will be a great challenge for us. We are working to get better every day in practice as the Horizon League is very competitive. We must come ready to go this weekend and be ready to battle."

HORIZON LEAGUE OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Freshman Sara Sternard (Clarendon Hills, Ill./Westmont) earned Horizon League Offensive Player of the Week after hammering down eight kills with a .538 hitting percentage in the 3-1 victory over Loyola, followed by 12 kills at a clip of .600 as the squad edged Green Bay, 3-2. Sternard currently leads the conference at .500 through 12 sets (as of Sept. 30) with 25 kills and one error.

ALL-TOURNAMENT SELECTIONS:The Flames began their season at Bradley's tournament, the CEFCU Classic where redshirt junior co-captain Janise Dismuke (Peoria, Ill./Richwoods) returned to her hometown to be selected as the tournament MVP, while junior Kelsey Safranek (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove South) and sophomore co-captain MaryKate Imrie (Orland Park, Ill./Sandburg) 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 freshman Sara Sternard (Clarendon Hills, Ill./Westmont) 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.

LAST TIME OUT: The squad downed Green Bay, 3-2 (18-25, 25-15, 19-25, 25-23, 15-10) in its second-consecutive conference victory at the Kress Events Center in Green Bay, Wis. Sternard had 12 kills (.500), while Safranek and Nicole Allgood (Crestwood, Ky./South Oldham) led all players with 17 kills in the match.

HORIZON LEAGUE LEADERS: Sternard leads the conference in hitting percentage at .500, including 25 kills with one error on 48 total attempts. Safranek is third in kills per set with 44 at 3.76 per set. Imrie is in third place with assists per set as the sophomore has 136 at a clip of 11.33 per set. Dismuke ranks third in the number of blocks per set with three solo blocks and 12 block assists for 1.25 blocks 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

Be sure to check back to UICFlames.com for complete results and a recap of the UIC weekend matches.