CHICAGO - The UIC women's volleyball team dropped a 3-1 decision against Cleveland State Friday night at home in the Flames Athletic Center.
 
Graduate transfer Kelsie Groot and senior Alyssa Ehrhardt each brought in 13 kills, while sophomore Ali Witt gathered eight. Redshirt junior Nicole Johnson added five kills and seven digs alongside her 37 assists. Freshman Grace Murphy paced the Flames defense with 10 kills while wearing the libero jersey, and senior Kara Johnson dug out eight.
 
Cleveland State pulled out to a 5-0 lead in the first set, and never trailed, leading 20-10 late into the first set. The Flames were able to put a few more points on the board, but fell 25-18. 
 
The Flames dominated set two, starting off with a 6-0 streak featuring kills from Groot and Ehrhardt. UIC hit .455 as a team in the set, registering 13 kills compared to Cleveland State's six. Groot registered a hitting percentage of .571 (5k-1e-7a) in the set, while Ehrhardt hit for .429 (4k-1e-7a). On defense, junior Kaylin Powell and senior Casey Harris combined for five of UIC's six total blocks in the set.
 
UIC was unable to keep the momentum going into the third set, and fell into a 5-1 hole at the start. The Flames were able to draw within one at the 14-13 mark, but the Vikings went on to score 10 unanswered points before eventually taking the set 25-15.
 
Game four was a close race, with no lead larger than three on either side. The Flames were within one of CSU at the 21-20 mark, but the Vikings' Sara Skeens gave the Vikings an insurance point. Groot responded with a kill to put UIC back within one, but Skeens attacked again to make it 23-21. Ehrhardt took a feed from Johnson to once again put UIC one point away, but CSU closed out the final two points off another Skeens kill and a combination block by Aaliyah Slappy and Sydney Mast.
 
The Flames welcome second place Oakland to the Flames Athletic Center tomorrow afternoon at 4 p.m. CT.