CHICAGO – The UIC volleyball team (12-6, 0-4 HL) will open up a four-match road stead this weekend as they take on Oakland (11-7, 3-1 HL) on Friday at 5 p.m. CT in the Athletics Center O'rena. UIC will then travel to Cleveland State (12-4, 3-1 HL) for a match on Saturday at 3 p.m. in the Woodling Gymnasium.

Last Time Out:
The Flames welcomed Green Bay to the FAC this past Friday evening, and fell 3-1 (24-26, 25-21, 17-25, 21-25). Graduate Transfer Kelsie Groot registered a hitting percentage of .298 (19k-5e-47a), and was just one kill shy of her season-high 20. UIC dropped its first road match of the season Saturday afternoon, a 3-0 (18-25, 18-25, 25-27) loss to Milwaukee. Groot scored double digits in both kills (12) and digs (13), while senior Alyssa Ehrhardt brought in 11 terminations of her own.

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:
Despite dropping their first road match of the season on Saturday, 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.

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 .328 (117k-35e-250a), has hit .500 or above on six separate occasions this season and leads the team in total blocks (59).

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 leads the team in kills, averaging 3.63 per set. Ehrhardt owns an attack percentage of .230 (254k-88e-723a) on the season and has also collected 156 digs and a team-high 28 service aces thus far.

Double Trouble:
Groot has made a name of herself quickly in her first season wearing a Flames jersey by collecting a team-high 13 double-doubles after adding a double-double at Milwaukee this past weekend. The Irvine, Calif., native owns an average of 3.57 kills per set and is hitting at a clip of .233 (250k-77e-741a) on the season. Defensively, the outside hitter also ranks second on the team in digs with 2.53 digs per set and has collected 38 total blocks thus far.

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:
UIC has earned its second Horizon League accolade in as many weeks, as 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 continues to rank second in the league in kills (13.31 per set), assists (12.40 per set) and hitting percentage (.234). The Flames also rank fourth in the League in digs (14.04 per set) and service aces (1.13 per set). Individually Ehrhardt is tied for the top spot in the Conference in kills (3.63 per set), while Groot joins her on the kills list in fourth with 3.57 per set. Ehrhardt is also second in service aces (.40 per set). UIC setter Nicole Johnson owns the top spot in the Horizon League in assists with 10.88 per set.

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 109 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 Oakland
Oakland dropped its first Horizon League match of the season this past Saturday, a straight set loss to Northern Kentucky (16-25, 14-25, 23-25). Senior Melissa Deatsch registered eight kills, while redshirt sophomore Krysteena Davis recorded a hitting percentage of .462 (7k-1e-13a). As a team, Oakland leads the league in service aces with 1.87 per set led by Melissa Deatsch, who leads the League individually with 0.83 service aces per set. UIC is looking to improve on its 2-5 all-time record against the Golden Grizzlies after falling 3-0 in both matches last season.

About Cleveland State
Cleveland State defeated Valparaiso this past Saturday 3-1 (25-23, 24-26, 25-18, 25-21) for its third-straight Horizon League victory. CSU sits at the top spot just above UIC in hitting percentage (.252) kills (13.79 per set) and assists (12.58 per set). The Vikings are tied with the Flames in fourth for service aces (1.13 per set), and they also rank third as a team in assists with 12.29 per set. Senior Grace Kauth leads the League individually in kills with 3.63 per set, just one spot ahead of Ehrhardt. Junior Gina Kilner sits second in the Conference in hitting percentage (.365), and also ranks third in assists (10.50 per set). The Flames own a 40-28 record all-time against the Vikings.