Sept. 5, 2014
Box Score
CHICAGO - The UIC volleyball team (1-3) picked up its first win of the season with a 3-0 sweep (25-19, 25-22, 25-18) over Chicago State (1-4) Friday during the opening night of the Windy City Invitational. The Flames own a 16-0 record in the all-time series with the Cougars dating back to 1990.
UIC hit .374 as a team with 48 kills on 91 attempts. The Flames also collected 10 total blocks as a team, their first double-digit block effort since Oct. 12, 2013 at Cleveland State.
Senior Sara Jo Sternard, a Preseason All-Horizon League selection, put down a match-high 13 kills on 19 attempts and zero errors to tie a career high .684 attack percentage. She also hit .684 against Loyola on Nov. 10, 2012.
Sternard had four kills on six attempts in the first set and six on ten swings in the second before a perfect 3-for-3 effort in the final set. She also collected six total blocks, including four in the second set. Sternard is hitting .520 (28k-2e-50ta) over her last two matches.
Junior Stephenee Yancy added 11 kills on 19 attempts for a .421 attack percentage. She had four kills on seven swings in the first set and five on nine attempts in the third. Yancy, who also collected four blocks, is the only UIC player with double-digit kills in all four matches this season.
Redshirt freshman Nicole Johnson dished out 44 assists to go along with seven digs and two service aces. Redshirt junior Tracy Friel compiled a match-high 12 digs and is the only UIC player with double-digit digs in all four matches this season.
Seniors Molly McCoy (nine kills on 16 attempts) and Maggie Strus (nine digs) also had strong matches for the Flames. Strus now owns 1,300 career digs and needs 63 more digs to pass Ilene O'Connell (1982-85) for fifth place in program history. Sophomore Kara Johnson added eight kills, eight digs and three blocks at the net.
UIC used a .444 attack percentage in the first set to pull away from a 13-13 tie for a 25-19 victory. The Flames trailed 16-13 in the second set before an 8-0 run with Allie O'Reilly serving helped UIC gain the edge for good. Chicago State narrowed UIC's third set lead to 17-16 but four consecutive points with Nicole Johnson serving put the set out of reach.
UIC seeks its second win of the season Saturday with a 10 am matchup with Syracuse (3-1) inside the Jacoby Dickens Center. The Flames wrap play at the Windy City Invitational with a 5 pm match against DePaul (1-3). Syracuse defeated DePaul in four sets Friday before the UIC/Chicago State match.
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