Oct. 26, 2015
The first 150 UIC students in attendance Tuesday night will receive UIC Volleyball blender bottles. They are great to mix protein shakes or to use as a percussion instrument. You can decide!
2015 UIC Statistics
2015 Horizon League Statistics 2015 UIC Prospectus
2015 UIC Record Book CHICAGO -- UIC finishes its penultimate homestand of the 2015 season on Tuesday, Oct. 27, when the Valparaiso Crusaders invade the Flames Athletic Center at 7 p.m.
Valpo enters the week in third place in the Horizon League standings with a mark of 6-4 this fall. The Flames are right on the heels of the Crusaders, however, one game behind with a conference record of 5-5. Valparaiso claimed a 3-1 victory in the first meeting between these two sides this season on Sept. 29 in Indiana.
UIC Match Notes
LAST TIME OUT
UIC posted some of its best defensive metrics of the season as it collected a five-set victory over the visiting Wright State Raiders on Saturday, Oct. 24 at the Flames Athletic Center. The home team registered a season-high 88 digs and blocked a season-high 14 attempts in victory.
The Flames won each of the first two sets before the Raiders found new life and pushed UIC to a decisive fifth frame. The two teams were never separated by more than two points at any period during the final set, but the Flames made the critical plays at the end of the match to win 19-17 and claim their fifth victory in Horizon League play.
UIC's Stephenee Yancy put down a match-high 23 kills and added a team-high seven blocks, plus three digs and an assist. Two of the Flames top passers enjoyed career days in the back row. Defensive specialist Tracy Friel secured a career-high 26 digs, while libero Bridget Powell added a personal-best 22 digs of her own. Alyssa Ehrhardt was second on the squad with 13 kills Saturday, and third with 12 digs as she posted her team-best ninth double-double of the season.
LAST TIME OUT…AGAINST VALPO
UIC concluded a six-match road trip at Valparaiso on Sept. 29. The Flames were unable to overcome a sharp attack from the Crusaders, as they fell, 3-1 (25-18, 25-27, 25-20, 25-15). Valpo hit .338 in the match with only 11 attacking errors on 151 attempts.
Stephenee Yancy led UIC with 20 kills, while Kara Johnson had 11 kills and 18 digs to tie for the team lead in that category. Alyssa Ehrhardt turned in her team-best sixth double-double on the strength of 10 kills and 11 digs against the Crusaders.
JOHNSON SETTING THE PACE
Sophomore setter Nicole Johnson currently leads the Horizon League and ranks 12th in the NCAA with 11.44 assists per set. Her 1,064 total assists also rank her fourth entering the week, as well. There have been five individual performances with 58-or-more assists in the Horizon League this season, and Johnson has turned in two of them by accomplishing the feat on Sept. 15 vs. Illinois State, and again at Northern Kentucky on Sept. 26; she is the only setter to rattle off that many helpers in only four sets.
Last season, Johnson was selected the 2014 Horizon League Freshman of the Year after ranking sixth with 11.67 assists per set. She was also an All-Horizon League Team selection. Johnson's 1,365 assists in 2014 ranked 14th nationally, and as the eighth highest in a single-season in program history. She led UIC with 26 service aces and contributed seven of UIC's 22 double-doubles. Johnson recorded 55 or more assists in seven matches. She compiled 227 digs with seven double-digit dig efforts.
UIC SWEEPS WEEKLY HORIZON LEAGUE HONORS TO OPEN LEAGUE PLAY
UIC junior middle blocker Casey Harris was named the Horizon League Defensive Player of the Week on Monday, Sept. 28, while senior middle Stephenee Yancy picked up Horizon League Offensive Player of the Week honors. It is the first time ever that a pair of UIC teammates has swept the weekly awards.
Harris led UIC, and the Horizon League, with 1.38 blocks per set over the opening weekend. In the victory at NKU on Sept. 26, she sent down a season-high seven blocks. This is the first weekly honor of her career.
Yancy averaged a league-best 5.75 kills per set at Wright State and Northern Kentucky, while hitting at a clip of .500 (46k-9e-74ta). The senior matched a season high with 26 kills at NKU and she hit a career-best .629 against the Norse. This is the fifth weekly honor of Yancy's career and the first in 2015.
YANCY KEEPS KILLING IT
Senior middle blocker Stephenee Yancy continues to stand out as one of the top offensive threats in both the Horizon League and the NCAA. The Aroma Park, Ill., native leads the conference and ranks 13th in the country with 4.57 kills per set this season. Yancy also ranks fifth nationally with 468.5 total points this season. After last weekend, she also leads the league with a .373 hitting percentage. In 10 HL matches, Yancy has been even sharper; the senior is averaging 4.97 kills per set at a clip of .382.
Yancy has put down 1,369 kills in three-plus collegiate seasons, including an even 900 as a UIC Flame. She spent her first two seasons at Western Michigan University, where she netted 469 kills for the Broncos.
RARE EHR
In only her second weekend as a member of the Flames, junior Alyssa Ehrhardt made quite the splash at the UIC Invitational (Sept. 4-5). The Algonquin, Ill., native collected tournament MVP honors after averaging 3.6 kills and 2.5 digs per set in UIC's three wins. The transfer also added four aces, four blocks and a pair of assists while hitting at a clip of .338 on the weekend. On Sept. 8, the Horizon League tabbed Ehrhardt as the Offensive Player of the Week for Aug. 31-Sept. 7. She currently ranks tied for fourth in the Horizon League with 0.32 aces per set.
JOHNSON ON PACE FOR 1,000 KILLS/1,000 DIGS
Junior outside hitter Kara Johnson has recorded 874 kills and 691 digs at UIC. She needs 126 kills and 309 digs over the next two seasons to become the 10th player in program history to record 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs. The last UIC player to join the 1,000 kills/1,000 digs club was Katarina Nedeljikovic in 2008 (1,381k/1,150d).
YANCY STARS WITH USA VOLLEYBALL
Stephenee Yancy made a good impression on her U.S. CNT (Collegiate National Team) Red squad by registering 14 points over two matches in late June. She trained and competed with USA Volleyball in conjunction with the USA Volleyball Girls' Junior National Championships.
Yancy was one of 36 athletes who began training with USA Volleyball in New Orleans. The CNT program was considered a second tryout for the U.S. Women's National Team.
POWELL POWERS UIC DEFENSE
Purdue transfer Bridget Powell (5-foot-6 defensive specialist) was also added to the roster in the offseason. Powell was a nationally-ranked libero at Mother McAuley High School. She appeared in six matches in 2013 at Purdue and made good on 98 percent of her serve reception chances. She saw action in the Boilermakers' NCAA First Round match against Central Arkansas. At UIC, she's registered a team-high 336 digs and ranks ninth in the Horizon League with 3.61 per set entering the weekend. Against Wright State on Oct. 24, Powell dug out a career-best 22 attacks.
FIVE FRESHMEN JOIN THE FLAMES
Seventh-year head coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley brought in five freshmen in Carla Salvato (5-foot-5 libero), Haley Sullivan (5-foot-3 libero), Ali Witt (6-foot-0 middle blocker), Macy Geyer (5-foot-11 setter) and Morgan Mereday (6-foot-0 outside hitter). Four of the five – Salvato, Sullivan, Witt and Mereday – have seen on-court action already this season.
Salvato was an All-conference pick at St. Ignatius College Prep and collected 600 digs. Sullivan was a three-year starter at Lemont High School and compiled 924 digs. Witt was a two-year starter at Prairie Ridge High School and a Sun-Times' Preseason Top 50 selection.
Geyer was a four-year starter for Hononegah Community and a three-time All-NIC-10 selection. Mereday was selected second-team All-State in 2014 and put down 263 kills at Hunterdon Central.
COACH CLOSES IN ON MILESTONE
UIC head coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley is closing in on a milestone in her seventh season at the helm. She owns 96 career victories entering the week, and is seeking to become only the third head coach in program history to reach the century mark. Don August, who led the Flames from 1981-2003 is the program's all-time leader in victories with 421, while Mary Kapsalis is second with 132.
SCOUTING THE CRUSADERS
Valparaiso comes over to the Windy City as one of two Horizon League teams to have already reached the 20-win mark during the 2015 campaign. The Crusaders are 20-6 overall, 6-4 in Horizon League play, and they have won three of their last four outings.
Valparaiso appears consistently near the top of the Horizon League's statistical leaderboards. Head coach Carin Avery's squad leads the conference in digs (17.56 dps), opponent hitting percentage (.184), assists (13.12 aps), kills (14.22 kps) and aces (1.64 aps). It also ranks second in hitting percentage (.243), just behind first-place Cleveland State.
The top individual offensive threat this season has been junior outside hitter Emily Campbell. Campbell ranks second in the Horizon League, behind UIC's Stephenee Yancy, with 4.25 kills per set. A total of four players, including Campbell, average at least 2.4 kills per set for the Crusaders this season.
