2015 Printable Schedule 

2015 Schedule

CHICAGO - UIC head volleyball coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley announced the 2015 schedule Monday, a slate that features 13 home matches and the annual UIC Invitational in early-September. The Flames will also make non-conference tournament trips to IPFW, Butler and Denver prior to the beginning of Horizon League play.

Non-Conference Opponents

The Flames begin the season in Fort Wayne, Ind. on the weekend of August 28-29 in a tournament hosted by IPFW. UIC will take on the host Mastodons, Eastern Illinois and Central Michigan in the two-day event.

UIC will host the UIC Invitational on the first weekend of September. During the ensuing two days (Sept. 4-5), the Flames will entertain Central Connecticut State, Morgan State and Chicago State at the Flames Athletic Center.

The third weekend of the season (Sept. 11-12) will see the Flames make the trip to Indianapolis, Ind. to compete in the Butler tournament. UIC will take on the host Bulldogs, Cincinnati and Northern Iowa.

Three days later (Sept. 15), UIC will play host to Illinois State. The Flames and Redbirds have played in Chicago on four occasions and ISU has won three of those matchups.

The Flames make a 1,000-mile trip west on the weekend of Sept. 18-19 to participate in the Denver tournament. UIC will compete against the host Pioneers, Abilene Christian and Montana in the last tournament of the season.

The Flames will take two breaks from Horizon League play on Oct. 13 and Nov. 3. UIC plays host to Western Illinois for the second straight season on Oct. 13. The Flames and Fighting Leathernecks have played in Chicago 13 times with WIU winning the last meeting (Sept. 13, 2014) in five sets.

UIC and DePaul will meet for the 41st time on Nov. 3 at McGrath-Phillips Arena. The last time the programs met in Lincoln Park (Aug. 27, 2010), the Flames rallied to win in five sets.

Horizon League Play

Horizon League play begins on the last weekend of September as UIC plays at Wright State (Sept. 25) and new conference member Northern Kentucky (Sept. 26). Other conference road trips include Valparaiso (Sept. 29), Youngstown State (Oct. 16), Cleveland State (Oct. 17), Oakland (Oct. 30), Milwaukee (Nov. 6) and Green Bay (Nov. 7).

UIC's Horizon League home opener is set for October 3 against Oakland. Other conference contests at the Flames Athletic Center include Green Bay (Oct. 9), Milwaukee (Oct. 10), Northern Kentucky (Oct. 23), Wright State (Oct. 24), Valparaiso (Oct. 27), Cleveland State (Nov. 13) and Youngstown State (Nov. 14).

The 2015 Horizon League Championship will be held from Nov. 20-22, with the regular season champion hosting the event. The schedule and start times are subject to change. Stay tuned to UICFlames.com for future developments regarding the 2015 UIC Volleyball schedule.

2015 Season Preview

UIC returns nine players to the 2015 roster from last season. The Flames also added Toledo transfer Alyssa Ehrhardt (5-foot-11 outside hitter) and Purdue transfer Bridget Powell (5-foot-6 defensive specialist). Ehrhardt and Powell have been training with the squad and competed in the spring season.

The Flames bring back Horizon League award winners Stephenee Yancy and Nicole Johnson. Yancy was named Horizon League Co-Player of the Year and earned AVCA Honorable Mention All-Region honors. She ranked 24th nationally with 512 kills and her .358 attack percentage broke the single-season program record. Johnson was selected as the Horizon League Freshman of the Year and ranked sixth nationally with 11.67 assists per set.

Over the summer, UIC will welcome five incoming freshmen in Carla Salvato (Chicago, Ill.), Haley Sullivan (Lemont, Ill.), Ali Witt (Crystal Lake, Ill.), Macy Geyer (Rockton, Ill.) and Morgan Mereday (Lebanon, NJ). Salvato is a 5-foot-5 libero, Sullivan is a 5-foot-3 libero, Witt is a 6-foot-0 middle blocker, Geyer is a 5-foot-11 setter and Mereday is a 6-foot-0 outside hitter.