Box Score Sept. 18, 2015

Box Score

	Denver 3, UIC 0 Hamilton Gymnasium • Denver, Colo. • Attendance: 415 Box Score | Box Score

DENVER -- UIC was unable to overcome a strong outing from the Denver Pioneers Friday night in the first match at the Denver Invitational, falling 3-0 (25-23, 25-19, 25-20). The Flames were hampered by 19 attacking errors and another 13 from the service line at the Hamilton Gymnasium.

UIC (5-6) hit .247 as a team Friday, led by senior Stephenee Yancy who hit .483 with 18 kills on 29 attempts. It was the eighth time in 11 matches that the Aroma Park, Ill., native connected for at least 15 kills and the fifth time that she hit .400 or better. Yancy's 18 kills Friday are the most by any Flames player in three sets this fall.

In the opening set, UIC senior Tracy Friel scored an ace with the Flames down a point, 12-11, and that serve ignited a 7-3 run that gave UIC its largest lead of the frame at 18-15. Denver (9-3) called a timeout and came out of the break by scoring eight of the next of the next 11 points to grab a 23-20 lead. The Pioneers had a couple cracks at set point, but Yancy and Kara Johnson delivered clutch kills to keep the Flames alive. DU's Nola Basey finally ended the surge and gave her team a 25-23 victory with a kill off an assist from Piyusha Boteju.

The Flames hit .333 with 15 kills in the first frame, but they had a total of nine errors. Denver hit just .265, but the Pioneers only committed seven miscues.

Denver took control of the second stanza early on by scoring eight of the first 10 points to open up an 8-2 lead. The Flames were unable to get any type of offensive rhythm established and soon the Pioneers ballooned the lead to ten points at 18-8. UIC sophomore Kyisha Hunt collected a kill that began a five-point run that culminated with a kill from junior Alyssa Ehrhardt and pulled the Flames to within five points. The visitors continued to persevere and soon the deficit was only three points at 22-19 after back-to-back kills from Yancy and Casey Harris. That was as close as the Flames could come down the stretch, however, as Denver hung on for a 25-19 second-set triumph to take a 2-0 lead into the intermission.

UIC fell behind at the onset of the third set as well. The Flames trailed 8-3 in the early going, but a 7-3 run by UIC made it a one-point at 12-11. Denver then made an attacking error that evened the score, but a serving error and three consecutive attacking errors by the Flames, plus a kill from Kayla Principato swung the momentum and the lead in DU's favor. UIC used a timeout to diminish the burst, but the Flames could not come closer than within two points the rest of the way as the Pioneers sealed the match with a 25-20 victory.

Kara Johnson was also in double figures with 10 kills Friday, while Ehrhardt added eight. Setter Nicole Johnson handed out a match-best 38 assists. Principato had a team-high 10 kills for Denver.

UIC will wrap up the Denver Invitational with a pair of matches scheduled on Saturday, Sept. 18. The Flames face the Abilene Christian Wildcats at 11 a.m. CT before closing the tournament at 6 p.m. against the Montana Grizzlies. It will be the first all-time meeting against both squads.