Horizon League Statistics
Horizon League Standings

CHICAGO - The UIC volleyball team (7-10, 1-1 HL) continues Horizon League play this weekend (Oct. 3-4) when the Flames host Cleveland State (8-7, 1-1 HL) and Youngstown State (10-7, 1-1 HL). UIC plays the Vikings Friday night (7 pm) and takes on the Penguins Saturday (4 pm).

A LOOK AT CLEVELAND STATE
Nickname: Vikings
Head Coach: Chuck Voss (15th Season)
2013 Record: 16-13, 5-9 HL
Preseason Poll: Picked 4th
Series History: UIC leads 39-25
Last Meeting: CSU won 3-1 (Nov. 9, 2013 at UIC)
Streak: CSU won the last meeting
2014 Leader in:
Kills - Maggie Hannon (142 kills)
Assists - Dayna Roberts (267 assists)
Service Aces - Grace Kauth (16 aces)
Digs - Nikki Holmes (213 digs)
Blocks - Alex Middlebrooks (52 blocks)

A LOOK AT YOUNGSTOWN STATE
Nickname: Penguins
Head Coach: Mark Hardaway (3rd season)
2013 Record: 16-15, 7-7 HL
Preseason Poll: Picked 7th
Series History: UIC leads 27-8
Last Meeting: UIC won 3-1 (Nov. 8, 2013 at UIC)
Streak: UIC won the last meeting
2014 Leader in:
Kills - Lexi Egler (198 kills)
Assists - Val Jeffrey (620 assists)
Service Aces - Sam Brown (23 aces)
Digs - Nikki Thompson (244 digs)
Blocks - Shannon Watson (73 blocks)

UIC MATCH NOTES

YANCY AMONGST LEAGUE'S BEST
Junior Stephenee Yancy leads the Horizon League with a .360 attack percentage and ranks second with 4.15 kills per set. She was named the Horizon League's "Offensive Player of the Week" on Sept. 22 and her 27-kill performance against DePaul (Sept. 6) is the League's best offensive effort.

Yancy, who spent the last two seasons with Western Michigan, ranks fourth in the nation with 278 kills and 36th in kills per set. She has put down double-digit kills in all 17 matches, owns three 20-plus kill performances and has been named to three all-tournament teams.

Yancy has also been a strong presence at the net as she leads UIC with 50 total blocks. Over the last three matches, Yancy has collected 18 blocks and averaged 1.63 blocks per set. She collected a career-high nine blocks in the sweep over Green Bay.

If the season ended today, Yancy would break UIC's single-season record for attack percentage. Kathy Berg's .354 attack percentage (364k-87e-783ta) during the 1998 season currently tops the record book.

JOHNSON ONE OF THE NATION'S BEST SETTERS
Redshirt freshman Nicole Johnson has put up historic numbers in her first 17 matches as UIC's setter. She leads the nation with 781 assists and ranks sixth with 11.66 assists per set.

Johnson leads the Horizon League in assists and owns the League's top five assist performances. She had 52 assists against East Carolina (Sept. 19) for her seventh 50-plus assist effort.

Johnson's career-high of 67 assists against Western Illinois (Sept. 13) are the most by a UIC player since Katie Kozak had 68 against Youngstown State on Oct. 14, 2005. Johnson was named the Horizon League Offensive Player of the Week on Sept. 8 after averaging 56.33 assists per match at the Windy City Invitational.

Johnson also owns five double-doubles and ranks seventh in the Horizon League with 20 service aces. Johnson has seven aces over her last five contests and recorded a season-high four aces against East Carolina.

STRUS SEEKS PROGRAM RECORD
Senior Maggie Strus compiled 24 digs over the weekend and owns 1,502 in her career, which ranks second in program history. Strus, who set UIC's single-season record with 600 digs in 2012, needs 30 more digs to become UIC's all-time dig leader.

Strus owns ten consecutive double-digit dig efforts, including three matches with over 20. Strus had a season-high 23 digs in the four-set win over Eastern Kentucky (Sept. 12), which is the fourth highest four-set effort in the Horizon League. She ranks eighth in the Horizon League with 3.76 digs per set.

STERNARD CLIMBS THE KILLS CHART
Senior Sara Jo Sternard, a 2014 Preseason All-Horizon League Team selection, had seven kills over the weekend. Sternard owns 920 career kills and needs 80 more to become the 16th member of UIC's 1,000 Kills Club.

Sternard ranks tenth in the Horizon League with a .262 attack percentage. She ranks second on UIC with 45 total blocks and is tied for sixth in program history with 71 solo blocks.

Sternard's 13-kill performance against Chicago State on only 19 attempts with zero errors (.684 attack percentage) is the League's most efficient. She also had zero errors with 14 kills on 27 attempts (.519 attack percentage) against Eastern Kentucky.

JOHNSON'S TEN DOUBLE-DOUBLES
Sophomore Kara Johnson had 12 kills and 12 digs at Milwaukee to collect her team-high tenth double-double. She ranks fourth in the Horizon League with 3.22 kills per set and second on UIC with 178 digs. Johnson owns 14 double-doubles in her brief UIC career.

Johnson put down a career-high 23 kills to go along with 11 digs against Western Illinois (Sept. 13). Her 23 kills against WIU is the third-highest performance in the Horizon League.

MCCOY PASSES 600 KILLS
Senior Molly McCoy put down 15 kills over the weekend to raise her career total to 635 kills. She passed the 600-career kill mark with 13 kills on 26 attempts against East Carolina (Sept. 19). McCoy owns six double-digit kill efforts and ranks fourth on the squad with 156 kills.

FRIEL DANGEROUS AT SERVICE LINE
Redshirt junior Tracy Friel ranks second on UIC with 14 service aces and has seven aces over her last seven matches. She had four aces at the PSU Alumni Classic and a season-high three aces against Syracuse at the Windy City Invitational (Sept. 6).

Friel has also compiled double-digit digs in ten matches. She had 18 digs against Eastern Michigan (Aug. 30) and ranks second on the squad in digs (178).

HORIZON LEAGUE RANKINGS
As a team, UIC leads the Horizon League in kills and assists. The Flames are averaging 13.10 assists on 13.87 kills per set. UIC also ranks fourth in the League with a .217 attack percentage. On the other side of the net, UIC leads the conference by limiting opponents to 12.12 digs per set.

2014 STATISTICAL IMPROVEMENTS
Through 17 contests, the 2014 UIC Flames have shown statistical improvements over the 2013 squad. The Flames are hitting 67 points higher (.217 - .150) and putting down nearly two more kills per set (13.87 - 11.89). UIC ranks 24th in the nation with 13.10 assists per set and 34th with 13.87 kills per set.