Oct. 17, 2014
Box Score
VALPARAISO, Ind. - The UIC volleyball team (10-12, 4-3 HL) concluded the first half of Horizon League play with a 3-1 victory (27-25, 23-25, 31-29, 25-23) at Valparaiso (17-4, 4-3 HL) Friday night. The Flames have won three straight Horizon League contests and sit in fourth place in the conference standings at the midway point.
UIC overcame 18 Valparaiso blocks with 70 kills and a .224 attack percentage while holding the Crusaders to 54 kills and a .182 attack percentage. The Flames have put down at least 70 kills on five occasions this season after one time in 2013.
Valparaiso was picked to finish second in the Horizon League's preseason poll and started the season 14-1. UIC's last win at Valparaiso came on Oct. 11, 2008.
Junior Stephenee Yancy, the Horizon League's reigning Co-Offensive Player of the Week, put down a match-high 25 kills on 45 attempts for a strong .422 attack percentage. She had seven kills on 12 attempts in the third set and eight on nine swings in the decisive fourth set. Yancy also added two blocks and owns 40 blocks over her last eight matches.
Yancy has put down double-digit kills in all 22 matches and owns four 20-plus kill performances. Her last 20-kill effort came against East Carolina on Sept. 19.
Redshirt freshman Nicole Johnson dished out 59 assists for her eighth 50-plus assist effort. She also had seven digs and two kills on five attempts. Johnson last recorded over 50 assists against East Carolina on Sept. 19.
Yancy's 25 kills and Johnson's 59 assists are the most by any Horizon League player during conference play. Johnson (995 assists) and Yancy (363 kills) sit first and sixth, respectively, in the nation's statistical rankings.
Sophomore Kara Johnson had 17 kills and 12 digs to collect her team-high 11th double-double. She had six kills on 16 attempts in the first set and five on 11 swings in the third set. Johnson owns 15 double-doubles in her career.
Freshman Allie O'Reilly had a match-high 16 digs and the Flames' lone service ace of the night. O'Reilly compiled 10 digs in the long first set and has seven double-digit dig performances this season. She also owns four aces over the last three contests.
Senior Molly McCoy had nine kills and 13 digs for her third double-digit dig performance over the last four matches. She is averaging 3.29 digs per set over the last four contests after 0.63 per set in the first 18 contests of the season.
Sophomore Casey Harris added nine kills and three blocks. Due to injury, Harris played in only five sets over the first 16 matches of the season. However, she has started the last six contests and has collected 14 total blocks.
Senior Maggie Strus collected 13 digs to add to her program-record total of 1,567. Meanwhile, senior Sara Jo Sternard (953 career kills) moved closer to joining UIC's 1,000 Kills Club with eight kills.
UIC put down 21 kills in a 27-25 first set victory, which featured eight lead changes. Valpo tied the score at 25-25 before an Emily Campbell attack error and Kara Johnson's sixth kill of the set put UIC up 1-0.
UIC led 23-20 in the second set on Sternard's fourth kill of the set before Valpo scored the final five points to tie the match at 1-1. The Crusaders hit at a .275 clip with 17 kills in the 25-23 victory.
The third set was tied at 29-29 before kills from Nicole Johnson and Kara Johnson allowed UIC to take a 2-1 lead. The Flames had 19 kills, three blocks and a service ace in the set victory, which featured 16 ties.
UIC pulled away from an 18-18 tie in the final set by holding Valpo to only 12 kills and a .121 attack percentage in a 25-23 win. Kara Johnson ended the match with her 17th kill of the night.
UIC returns home next weekend (Oct. 24-25) to start the second half of conference play. The Flames play host to Green Bay (3-14, 1-5 HL) Friday and first-place Milwaukee (11-9, 5-1 HL) Saturday. Earlier this season, UIC fell at Milwaukee in four sets on Sept. 26 before a sweep at Green Bay on Sept. 27.
