Box Score Oct. 23, 2015 Box Score
CHICAGO -- UIC started strong and captured the opening set Friday night, but the Flames ultimately fell at home to the Northern Kentucky Norse, 3-1 (24-26, 25-23, 25-20, 25-23).
Northern Kentucky registered only nine blocks in the match, but the Flames committed a total of 28 attacking errors as they came up short Friday. UIC hit .187 as a team, while NKU turned in a team hitting percentage of .287 as it secured its fourth win in Horizon League play.
After opening up an 8-4 lead in the first set, UIC found itself in the trail position for a good portion of the frame. The Flames kept it close however, and never trailed by more than three points. In fact the team was down 19-16, but a 5-2 run evened the ledger at 21 points apiece. The home team had the first chance at set point with a 24-22 lead following a kill from Stephenee Yancy, but NKU rallied for two points in a row to tie it once again. UIC's Alyssa Ehrhardt and Yancy then went back-to-back to seal the set, 26-24.
Yancy was nearly unstoppable in the first set. The senior buried 10 kills and was not charged with an attack error in 16 attempts. Setter Nicole Johnson handed out 14 assists in the set, while also adding four kills of her own. The squad notched 22 digs with senior Tracy Friel leading the way with eight.
The second set was another tightly-contested frame with no team grabbing a lead of larger than three points at any point during the set. UIC led 19-16 after a Yancy kill, but the Norse overcame the deficit and picked up a 25-23 victory to even the match at 1-1. Kyisha Hunt contributed five kills at a clip of .444 in the frame. Nicole Johnson added 17 more assists, while libero Bridget Powell led both sides with seven digs in the frame. As a team, NKU hit .350 in the second set with 17 kills and only three miscues.
Northern Kentucky continued to click offensively in the third set as it hit .371 with 15 kills and only two errors. On the other side of the net, UIC managed only 11 kills and it was hampered by nine attacking errors. The Norse took a 2-1 lead for the match with a 25-20 victory in the third. Haley Libs led the NKU attack with seven kills in the stanza.
UIC fell into a hole in the fourth set, 12-5, but the squad would not go quietly into the night. The home team went on a spirited 12-5 run of its own to tie the match at 17 points apiece when Casey Harris stuffed NKU's Libs at the net. The back-and-forth continued and the score was later tied, 20-20, after yet another kill by Yancy. The Flames served long on the next play and NKU was able to hang on for a 25-23 triumph to take the match, 3-1.
The Flames did not have a block through two sets, but they collected six in the third and fourth sets. Anouska Best picked up a pair of blocks in the fourth set, while Harris finished the night with a team-high four rejections.
Yancy and Libs each finished the night with 25 kills for UIC and Northern Kentucky, respectively. Yancy hit .429 (25k-4e-49ta) and the senior added two digs, an assist and a block. Ehrhardt sent down 13 kills and picked up 12 digs to earn her team-high seventh double-double of the season, and her first since Sept. 29 at Valparaiso. Nicole Johnson also picked up her fifth double-double of the year, and her first in Horizon League play, with 52 assists and 11 digs.
As a team, UIC registered 76 digs Friday night, two shy of a season high; it was the third time this season that the team tallied 70-or-more digs. Powell posted 18 to lead five Flames in double figures.
UIC will play the middle match of its three-match homestand on Saturday, Oct. 24 when the Wright State Raiders come to town for a 4 p.m. match. The two teams met in the Horizon League opener in September and the Flames won that contest, 3-1.
