Box Score Sept. 12, 2015 Stats
INDIANAPOLIS -- UIC wrapped up its stay in the Circle City Saturday and capped off the All-American Classic with an exciting five-set victory over Northern Iowa (25-20, 20-25, 21-25, 25-23, 15-9). The Flames trailed the match 2-1, but reeled off wins in the fourth and fifth sets to finish the weekend on a high note.
The Flames (5-4) used a balanced attack as sophomore setter Nicole Johnson helped five of her teammates pick up at least eight kills apiece. Stephenee Yancy led UIC with 15 terminations, while newcomer Alyssa Ehrhardt notched 12 to go along with 15 digs as she picked up her third double-double of the season.
Defensively, libero Bridget Powell led the Flames with a career-high 19 digs, while Johnson and Kara Johnson each chipped in with nine. Allie O'Reilly also added eight digs and three helpers for UIC at historic Hinkle Fieldhouse. Nicole Johnson led the team with a career-high seven blocks against UNI (4-5).
"I'm proud of the way that we competed hard for every point," said UIC head coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley. "It's never easy to play two matches in a row like we had to do, but the team responded incredibly well today to all of the adversity we faced. UNI is a talented team and they really pushed us to be at our best throughout the entire match. It was a great team win for the Flames to finish off the weekend."
Despite have an abbreviated break between matches, the Flames came out firing in the first set against the Panthers. UNI held a slight 17-14 edge just past the midway point, but the Flames went on a 6-0 tear to take a lead that they would not relinquish. Yancy had two kills and Ehrhardt added a kill and an ace during the run. Johnson eventually finished off a 25-20 first-set victory with a service ace.
The score was knotted at 17-17 once again in the second set after back-to-back kills from Yancy, but Northern Iowa scored the next four points in a row to take the lead back for good. The Panthers evened the overall score with a 25-20 victory in the second set.
UNI raced out to an 11-4 lead in the third set, and it never looked back. UIC pulled to within a point at 16-15 following a pair of assisted blocks from Yancy and Johnson. The Flames continued to battle, but Kayla Haneline eventually gave her team a 2-1 lead in the match with a kill to seal the set for the Panthers, 25-21.
UIC found itself in the trail position once again in the fourth, down 9-5 in the early going. Schumacher-Cawley called a timeout and the respite helped launch an 8-4 run that evened the game at 13-13 after back-to-back kills from Yancy and sophomore Kyisha Hunt. The two sides battled back and forth until the Flames finally grabbed a 22-21 edge on a kill from Kara Johnson. The teams traded the next three points, however and they were locked at 23 points apiece with UNI's Heather Hook serving. Kara Johnson buried another kill to put UIC ahead by one before Hunt and Casey Harris joined forces to stuff Jaidyn Blanchfield's attempt and secure a decisive fifth set.
The Flames and Panthers split the first six points of the fifth set before a 5-0 run for UIC put it in the driver's seat for good. Ehrhardt had a kill, senior captain Tracy Friel served up an ace and Yancy and Hunt notched a big block to gain the 8-3 lead as the teams switched ends.
UNI used a 5-2 run of its own to make it a two-point game at 10-8 when Ehrhardt delivered another a kill to gain a bit of breathing room. The Flames later led 12-9 as Nicole Johnson took over at the service line. The second-year setter delivered her second ace of the afternoon before a bad set by the Panthers set up match point. Once again it was the defensive wall that came through as Harris and Johnson teamed up to reject Piper Thomas and give UIC its fifth win of the young season.
UIC's Nicole Johnson earned a spot on the All-American Classic All-Tournament Team. The setter averaged 9.58 assists and 1.58 digs per set. She also directed the offense to its highest hitting percentage of the season - .336 - against Cincinnati.
Cincinnati 3, UIC 1 (25-23, 23-25, 25-22, 25-21)
In the first set of the first match Saturday, the Flames found themselves down by as many as five points on a couple of occasions before they roared back late. UIC trailed Cincinnati 18-13 after a serving error, but the squad orchestrated a 9-4 run to even the ledger at 22 points a side in the closing moments. The Bearcats were able to record back-to-back kills to put themselves in position to win the set, but a serving error kept UIC alive. UC's Ciara Hill then connected for her fourth kill of the frame to give the Bearcats a 25-23 triumph.
Despite falling two points short in the first frame, UIC hit .407 in the set, its best mark of the match. Setter Nicole Johnson handed out 14 assists and four different players had at least two kills, including Alyssa Ehrhardt and Stephenee Yancy, who put down four apiece.
The Flames quickly forgot about the first set as the second began. The teams traded brief runs in the early going when Casey Harris netted a kill from Nicole Johnson and Kara Johnson picked up two of her own to put UIC ahead, 14-11. Cincinnati would tie it up a handful of times, but the Flames would never trail again in the second stanza. Leading 22-20, Johnson and scored in back-to-back fashion to put UIC one point shy of a set victory. The Bearcats scored three times in a row to make it a one-point affair, but Johnson delivered once again to seal a 25-23 win for the Flames.
Johnson collected seven kills while hitting .455 in the second set alone. The junior captain also added four digs and an assist in the frame.
Cinicinnati scored 10 of the first 15 points after the intermission, but following the early surge UIC steadied and put together an 11-6 run of its own to even the score at 16-16. Moments late it was tied once again at 17 points apiece before the Bearcats went on a three-point run to take the lead back for good. Ehrhardt had three big kills down the stretch to lengthen the set for UIC, but Cincinnati eventually prevailed, 25-22.
The Flames were in control early in the fourth game as they built an early 7-4 lead that prompted the Bearcats to burn an early timeout after Harris notched one of her six kills on the morning. UIC later lead 18-15 after another kill from Johnson, but Cincy went on a decisive 7-0 run to go ahead 22-18. That push was all it would need as it hung on for a 25-21 set victory to earn a 3-1 win for the match.
Yancy (17), Ehrhardt (15) and Johnson (15) each posted at least 15 kills for the Flames against the Bearcats. For Johnson, that number marked a season high. For the team, its .359 hitting percentage was the best mark through eight matches this season, and the highest percentage since hitting .407 in a 3-0 win against Green Bay on Oct. 24, 2014.
Next Match:
UIC returns to the Flames Athletic Center on Tuesday, Sept. 15 for a midweek match against the Illinois State Redbirds. The first serve is scheduled for 6 p.m. CDT.
