Sept. 20, 2014

Box Score
Tournament Central

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The UIC volleyball team (6-9) won its final contest of the Penn State Alumni Classic Saturday afternoon with a 3-1 victory (25-21, 25-23, 21-25, 25-17) over Eastern Illinois (6-7). The Flames went 2-1 at the PSU Alumni Classic and start Horizon League play next weekend.

Junior Stephenee Yancy was named to the All-Tournament Team after 21 kills on 44 attempts. Yancy put down 57 kills with a .381 attack percentage over the weekend. She has been named to three all-tournament teams this season. Yancy extended her double-digit kill streak to 15 matches and has averaged 18.4 kills with a .390 attack percentage over the last five matches.

The 2013 UIC Flames had one 20-kill effort while Yancy owns three such performances in her first 15 contests with the program. She put down six kills in the first and third sets before four kills with zero errors in the fourth set win. Yancy also picked up four blocks for the fourth time this season.

Redshirt freshman Nicole Johnson had 46 assists, six digs, three kills and two blocks in an all-around strong performance. Johnson has dished out 40 assists on ten occasions this season.

Senior Maggie Strus collected 16 digs for her eighth consecutive double-digit performance. She now owns 1,478 career digs, which ranks second in program history, and needs 54 more to become UIC's all-time dig leader.

Sophomore Kara Johnson had 14 kills for her 12th double-digit effort. She put down seven kills on 14 attempts in the second set victory and another four in the decisive fourth set.

Sara Jo Sternard, Molly McCoy and Kyisha Hunt all put down six kills for UIC. McCoy hit at a .385 clip while Sternard (five blocks) and Hunt (three blocks) were productive on defense.

Anouska Best, Allie O'Reilly and Tracy Friel all recorded two service aces. O'Reilly compiled 10 digs for her fifth double-digit effort while Friel added eight digs on UIC's back line.

EIU tied the first set at 8-8 but UIC used a .333 attack percentage and three blocks to pull away for a 25-21 victory. The Panthers led 8-7 in the second set before a 5-0 run with Nicole Johnson serving allowed the Flames to go ahead and UIC held on to win the set, 25-23.

UIC led the third set 17-16 following McCoy's fifth kill of the match but EIU scored seven out of the next nine points and ultimately captured the set, 25-21. Best's two service aces helped UIC grab an early 8-1 lead in the fourth set and the Flames never trailed in a 25-17 victory.

UIC begins the Horizon League portion of its schedule Friday (Sept. 26) when the Flames play at Milwaukee (5-8). First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m. inside the Klotsche Center. Milwaukee was pegged as the preseason favorite to win the Horizon League title. The Panthers won last year's Horizon League Tournament and fell to Wisconsin in the first round of the 2013 NCAA Tournament.

All-Tournament Team
Aiyana Whitney (MVP), Dominique Gonzalez - Penn State
Stephenee Yancy - UIC
Randi Leath - DePaul
Chelsea Lee - Eastern Illinois
Sydmey Darden - East Carolina