Box Score Oct. 30, 2015 Box Score
ROCHESTER, Mich. -- UIC traveled to Oakland Friday night and the Golden Grizzlies used 41 kills and nine blocks to defeat the Flames, 3-0 (25-18, 25-16, 25-16). UIC was hindered by 22 attacking errors, including 13 unforced miscues.
Stephenee Yancy of the Flames led all players with 15 kills on Friday night, however no one else picked up more than five. On the other side of the net four Oakland players registered at least six kills in the match, including Cassie Pelloni who led the Golden Grizzlies with 12.
The Golden Grizzlies entered the match hitting .264 as a team in Horizon League matches and the home exceeded that mark in the opening set. Oakland's team attacked at a clip of .364 with 16 kills and only four errors on 33 attempts. OU did have four serving errors in the first set, but it still produced enough offensively to down the Flames, 25-18. UIC's Yancy and Kyisha Hunt combined for seven of the team's 10 kills in the first set.
The Flames regrouped quickly and fired out of the gate at the start of the second set. With Casey Harris serving, the visitors opened up a quick 5-1 lead with kills coming by way of Hunt, Yancy and Anouska Best. Later, a UIC block from Casey Harris and Tracy Friel gave it a five-point lead at 9-4, but Oakland began to chip away at its deficit soon thereafter. A 10-2 run gave the home team a three-point lead and the Golden Grizzlies began to pull away. After holding that early advantage, the Flames registered only seven points the rest of the way as OU pulled out a 25-16 triumph in the second stanza.
Oakland was hitting around .060 when UIC held its second-set lead, but it closed hard once again and finished the frame with an attacking percentage of .321 for the set. The Flames were done in by the lengthy scoring drought and seven more attacking errors.
The two teams split the first six points of the third set evenly before OU produced a six-point run with Jordan Massab serving that led to a 9-3 lead for the home team and a timeout called by UIC. The Golden Grizzlies scored two more in a row after the stoppage before Morgan Mereday put the Flames back on the board with her fifth kill of the match. The point sparked a four-point run for UIC and put it back to within striking distance.
It was a five-point match after a kill from Yancy made it 20-15 in favor of Oakland, but the Flames could come no closer Friday night. UIC dropped the third game, 25-16, to give the Golden Grizzlies a 3-0 match victory.
Best and Harris paced the Flames with three blocks apiece, while Harris and Nicole Johnson each posted six digs in defeat. Johnson also led the squad with 27 assists.
The Flames return to the Windy City for a midweek match against crosstown rival DePaul on Tuesday, Nov. 3. The match will be played at McGrath-Phillips Arena in Lincoln Park, and the first serve is slated for 7 p.m.
