CHICAGO – The UIC women's volleyball team (14-10, 2-8 HL) will split time at home and on the road this weekend for a pair of Horizon League matches. The Flames will welcome Milwaukee (12-9, 6-4 HL) to the Flames Athletic Center on Friday at 6 p.m. CT, and then hit the road to tackle Green Bay (15-7, 7-3 HL) on Saturday at 4 p.m.

Last Time Out:
UIC went 1-1 at home this past weekend, falling 3-1 to first-place Cleveland State this past Friday (Oct. 21), and defeating second-place Oakland in five thrilling sets (3-2) on Saturday (Oct. 22). Saturday's victory against Oakland was the Flames' second horizon-league victory of the season, and 14th victory overall. Seniors Kelsie Groot and Alyssa Ehrhardt both recorded double-doubles in the win, and Groot registered career-high kills (26) and digs (20) and was named Horizon League Offensive player of the week for her efforts.

Hot Start:
UIC has had an historic start to the 2016 season, and was undefeated heading into the UIC Invitational on Sept. 16. The Flames recorded their best start in program history with their eighth victory, a 3-2 decision over South Florida on Sept. 10. The win set UIC at 8-0 on the season, replacing the 1984 squad's record of seven season-opening wins. The Flames then went on to win two more (at DePaul and at Loyola), matching the longest win streak in program history. The 2016 team was also the first team to put together ten-straight victories in 30 years.

Road Warriors:
The 2016 Flames are the first team to take at least 11 road matches in one season since the 1993 squad, who finished the season at 19-13 with 14 road victories as members of the Mid-Continent Conference. The 1984 squad currently owns the record for most road victories with 21, and closed out the season with 30 wins, the most in program history. The Flames look to add another road victory this weekend, as they are a mere two road wins away from the 1993 squad's mark.
Double Trouble:
Groot has made a name of herself quickly in her first season wearing a Flames jersey by collecting a team-high 16 double-doubles after adding a double-double against Oakland this past weekend. The Irvine, Calif., native owns the top spot on the team in kills with an average of 3.67 per set and raised her hitting percentage on the season to .237 (341k-102e-1009a) this past weekend. Defensively, the outside hitter also ranks second on the team in digs with 2.55 digs per set and has collected 50 total blocks thus far. The outside hitter jumped ahead four spots in the NCAA total attack rankings this week, from 23rd in the nation to 19th. Groot also made a large jump in the total kills rankings, from 45th to 38th. Additionally, Groot broke into the attacks per set rankings this week in 48th.

Striking Sophomore:
Sophomore Ali Witt has added her name to the UIC record books with an historic start of her own. The Crystal Lake, Ill., native earned the fifth-highest single-match hitting percentage in program history against UMass Lowell on Sept. 17 at .786 (11k-0e-14a). The mark is the highest of Witt's career and replaces her previously-set career-high mark against USF (Sept. 10), when she hit for a clip of .750 to tie the seventh-highest hitting percentage in program history. The middle blocker owns the highest hitting percentage on the team at .297 (154k-54e-337a), and has hit .500 or above on seven separate occasions this season and leads the team in total blocks (79). Witt tied her .750 mark again against Northern Kentucky (7k-1e-8a) on Oct. 15.

Senior Superlative:
Ehrhardt has had an impressive start to the 2016 season including most valuable player honors at both the Redhawks Invitational and the DePaul Invitational. The Algonquin, Ill., native ranks second on the team in kills, averaging 3.52 per set. Ehrhardt owns an attack percentage of .214 (327k-126e-938a) on the season and has also collected 198 digs and a team-high 32 service aces thus far. This past weekend against Oakland, Ehrhardt recorded double-digit kills (24) and digs (11) for her first double-double since Sept. 24 against Valparaiso. Ehrhardt's 24 kills tied her second-highest mark of the season, which she set on Sept. 10 against USF. Nationally, Ehrhardt is ranked 41st in total attacks.
 
Feeling Great About .408:
As a team, UIC hit .408 on Aug. 27 against New Orleans in the finale of the Redhawks Invitational. The Flames buried an average of 16.7 kills per set against the Privateers, while committing only 2.67 attacking errors per game. The percentage is the sixth-best single-match mark in team history, and the best number since UIC hit .435 against Chicago State on Sept. 8, 1999. Hunt (.643) posted an individual career high against UNO, while Witt led the Flames in victory with a career-high 11 kills.

Horizon Hardware:
Groot was named Horizon League Offensive Player of the Week this week following her efforts against Oakland on Saturday. The graduate transfer recorded career high kills (26) and digs (20) against the second-place Golden Grizzlies, in route to her team-high 16th double-double of the season. The outside hitter brought in the game-winning pair of points in the fourth set against Oakland to force the decisive set five, where she went on to secure the final three points to allow UIC to defeat Oakland 3-2.

Kara Johnson recorded her first-career Horizon League Defensive Player of the Week award on Sept. 6. The Champaign, Ill., native registered a team-high 44 digs at the JAX Classic and paced the Flames in that category against all three opponents. In her first season wearing the libero jersey, Johnson currently sits sixth across the Horizon League with a team-high 235 total digs and average of 3.73 digs per set. She was also a member of the All-Tournament team at the Redhawks Invitational.  

Ehrhardt was named the Horizon League Offensive Player of the Week on Aug. 29, following a sensational effort at the Redhawks Invitational. The Algonquin, Ill., native averaged 4.42 kills, 2.25 digs and 0.67 aces per set for the Flames in Cape Girardeau, Mo. Among her weekend highlights include a career-best 27 kills, while hitting .306, in the season opener against LA Tech, and her first double-double of the season behind 16 kills and 15 digs in the nightcap against SEMO. This was Ehrhardt's second weekly honor from the Horizon League (Sept. 8, 2015).
 
More Fantastic Flames:
Groot represented the Flames on the UIC Invitational All-Tournament team Sept. 16-17, registering a team-high 29 kills on the weekend to average 2.90 kills per set. The Irvine, Calif., native also brought in 24 digs and four total blocks through 10 sets.

Ehrhardt grabbed the most valuable player title at the DePaul Invitational Sept. 9-10, where she collected 53 kills to average 3.79 kills per set. The outside hitter also registered 22 digs and seven service aces. Ehrhardt led the Flames in kills in two of the three matches, including a tournament-high 24 in UIC's match against South Florida. Witt joined Ehrhardt on the All-Tournament team, hitting at a clip of .487 while committing only two errors across the weekend's 14 sets.
 
Earlier this season, Groot was named the most valuable player of the JAX Classic on Sept. 3. Hunt and Ehrhardt were also named to the All-Tournament team for their performances. Both Groot and Ehrhardt closed out the tournament with 40 kills to average 3.64 per set. Groot hit .305 on the weekend, and .371 for the Flames' final two victories on Sept. 3. Ehrhardt led UIC with five service aces, while also averaging 3.36 digs per set. Hunt averaged 3.55 kills per set and recorded four blocks on the weekend.

Ehrhardt and Johnson were joined on the Redhawks Invitational All-Tournament Team by Groot. The Irvine, Calif., native delivered double-doubles in UIC's first two matches, while falling one kill and two digs shy in the sweep over New Orleans in the finale. She averaged 3.58 kills and 2.58 digs during the tournament. Johnson donned the libero jersey for the first time in her collegiate career against Louisiana Tech, and she posted a career-high 25 digs in the match. The Champaign, Ill., native averaged 3.67 digs per set in her first weekend at the position.
 
Where We Rank:
Across the Horizon League, UIC ranks third as a team in hitting percentage (.221), and also ranks fourth kills (12.81 per set) and assists (12.03 per set). Individually, Groot owns the top spot in the Conference in kills with 3.67 per set, while Ehrhardt sits third with 3.52 per set. Ehrhardt is also second in the League in service aces (.34 per set), and UIC setter Nicole Johnson ranks fourth in the Horizon League in assists with 10.56 per set. Additionally, Witt comes in at fifth in the Horizon League in hitting percentage (.297).
 
Congrats, Coach:
UIC head coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley reached a milestone with the team's win over New Orleans to close out the Redhawks Invitational on Aug. 27. The Chicago native entered the season with 97 career victories and the triumph over the Privateers marked win No. 100. Schumacher-Cawley, who now owns 111 victories, ranks third all-time in victories by a UIC head volleyball coach behind 23-year bench boss Don August, and the first head coach in program history, Mary Kapsalis.

About Milwaukee
Milwaukee currently sits in the middle of the Conference standings in fifth, following 3-2 loss to Cleveland State this past Saturday. The Panthers are third in the League as a team in blocks (2.35 per set), while also ranking fifth in assists (11.73 per set) and kills (12.57 per set). Freshman Jenn Dore is second in the individual Conference standings in assists with an average of 10.65 assists per set, while fellow freshman Bridget Wallenberger is fifth in the League in blocks (1.09 per set). Junior Jess Kalous also makes the Conference blocks list in seventh with an average of 1.06 per set, and Senior Myanna Ruiz sits fifth in the Horizon League in digs (4.16 per set). Milwuakee and UIC first met this season on Oct. 1 at Milwaukee, where the Panthers defeated the Flames in straight sets.

About Green Bay
Green Bay is runner-up behind Cleveland State in the Horizon League standings, after a 3-0 sweep over Youngstown State this past Saturday. The Phoenix are second in the League as a team in blocks (2.36 per set), while also ranking third in kills (12.86 per set), assists (12.14 per set) and digs (14.66 per set). Green Bay is also fourth as a team in hitting percentage (.216). Junior Lydia DeWeese owns the top spot in the individual Horizon League in both hitting percentage (.364) and blocks (1.55 per set). Sophomore Austyn Everingham ranks fourth in the Conference in digs with 4.24 per set, while freshman setter ranks fifth in assists with 10.52 per set. The Flames look to even out their record for the season against the Pheonix, as Green Bay topped UIC on Sept. 30, 3-1, in the Flames Athletic Center.