Box Score Sept. 26, 2015 Box Score
HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. -- UIC completed its opening weekend of Horizon League play in exciting fashion on Saturday afternoon by knocking off the newest Horizon League member, Northern Kentucky, on the road, 3-1 (21-25, 25-18, 25-23, 26-24).
The win over the Norse, coupled with Friday's victory at Wright State means that the Flames (8-7, 2-0 HL) are 2-0 to begin conference play for the first time since 2012. Both of those victories, however, came in the cozy confines of the Flames Athletic Center.
"With Northern Kentucky being new to the Horizon League, we were not entirely sure what to expect today," said UIC head coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley. "They are an extremely talented team and they made us fight hard for every point. I'm happy that we were able to persevere and finish the weekend on another positive note."
In the first-ever meeting between the two schools, NKU was able to emerge with an early 1-0 match lead thanks to a 25-21 victory. After the home team broke an 8-8 tie with a kill from Taylor Snyder in the first frame, UIC was never able to regain the lead.
The Flames hit the floor re-energized in the second stanza and jumped out to an early 11-4 lead thanks to three kills from senior Stephenee Yancy and three more from junior Alyssa Ehrhardt. NKU eventually pulled to within a point thanks to an 8-2 run, however UIC scored the next four points to begin to pull away. Freshman Morgan Mereday scored the last two points for the visitors to help nail down the 25-18 victory.
The third set played out as a back-and-forth affair. The Norse led 22-21 down the stretch before Yancy pounded down another kill with an assist to Nicole Johnson. A UIC serving error gave Northern Kentucky a 23-22 lead, but Yancy stepped up once again to tie the score. NKU's Mel Stewart was charged with an attack error to set up set point for the Flames and Mereday delivered once again with a kill from the left side to give UIC a 25-23 triumph and a 2-1 lead in the match.
There were a handful of tie scores in the fourth set, a match-high 12 to be exact, but the Flames rarely trailed as they battled to a 26-24 win. The Norse actually had the first shot at set point with a slim 24-23 lead, but this time it was Ehrhardt who kept UIC alive with her 15th kill of the afternoon. Allie O'Reilly then delivered the biggest ace of the contest for the Flames to secure a one-point lead at 25-24. Finally, Yancy and Kyisha Hunt combined to block Haley Libs to nail down the victory.
Yancy was unstoppable Saturday as she reeled off 26 kills at an eye-popping clip of .629. She also added three digs and three blocks as she scored 29.5 points in UIC's victory. Ehrhardt joined Yancy in double figures with 15 kills, while Mereday added eight.
On the weekend, Yancy averaged 5.75 kills per set in UIC's two victories. She totaled 46 terminations with an attacking percentage of .500 (46k-9e-74ta). The team hit .264 in the two wins, while holding the opposition to an average mark of .176.
Setter Nicole Johnson matched her season high with 58 assists in the match. It was the fifth time this season in 15 matches that the sophomore handed out 50-or-more helpers.
For the second consecutive match, UIC registered 10 blocks as a squad. Casey Harris led the way with seven, while Hunt pitched in with five.
Libero Bridget Powell paced UIC with 19 digs, while Tracy Friel added 17. Both Flames were one shy of matching a career high in that category.
The Flames will conclude their six-match road trip on Tuesday evening by making a short trek to Valparaiso to face the Crusaders in another Horizon League showdown at 7 p.m.
