Nov. 12, 2015
| This Week in UIC Volleyball |
| Date: | Opponent: | Time: | Follow: |
| Friday, Nov. 13 | vs. Cleveland State | 7 p.m. CST | GameTracker |
| Saturday, Nov. 14 | vs. Youngstown State | 4 p.m. CST | GameTracker |
2015 UIC Statistics
2015 Horizon League Statistics 2015 UIC Prospectus
2015 UIC Record Book
CHICAGO -- UIC will put a bow on the 2015 regular season this weekend when it hosts the Cleveland State Vikings and Youngstown State Penguins in a pair of critical Horizon League matches at the Flames Athletic Center on Friday and Saturday, respectively.
The Flames have work yet to do in order to qualify for the six-team Horizon League Tournament. UIC needs to collect wins in both matches, and get a little bit of help from around the league. The Flames also need Green Bay to knock off Milwaukee, and for the Vikings to maintain their hold on the top seed. Green Bay and Milwaukee play Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m. as the Flames battle the Penguins.
UIC Match Notes
SENIOR SEND-OFF
Seniors Tracy Friel and Stephenee Yancy will do a UIC uniform for the final time at the Flames Athletic Center on Saturday when the team hosts Youngstown State in the regular-season finale. The pair will be honored and thanked for their outstanding contributions to the UIC Volleyball family in a brief pre-match ceremony.
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 entered the week leading the conference and ranked 10th in the country with 4.67 kills per set this season. Yancy also ranks fifth nationally with 565.5 total points this season. The captain also ranks first in the league with a .374 hitting percentage. In 14 Horizon League matches, Yancy has been even sharper; the senior is averaging 5.13 kills per set at a clip of .381.
Yancy has put down 1,458 kills in three-plus collegiate seasons, including 989 as a UIC Flame. She spent her first two seasons at Western Michigan University, where she netted 469 kills for the Broncos.
JOHNSON SETTING THE PACE
Sophomore setter Nicole Johnson leads the Horizon League and ranks 23rd in the NCAA with 11.23 assists per set entering the weekend. Her 1,235 total assists also rank her fifth nationally entering the week, as well.
Johnson has turned in two 58-assist performances this season by accomplishing the feat on Sept. 15 vs. Illinois State, and again at Northern Kentucky on Sept. 26. Both of those were four-set matches.
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.
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 weekend, 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.
