CHICAGO – The UIC women's volleyball team (15-11, 3-9 HL) will head out for its final regular-season road trip this weekend as they face Valparaiso (13-16, 4-8 HL) and Wright State (9-16, 4-8 HL). The Flames will dual with the Crusaders on Friday at 6 p.m. CT before facing the Raiders on Saturday at 3 p.m.
 
Last Time Out:
UIC brought in its second-straight Horizon League victory this past Friday (Oct. 28) with a 3-1 win against Milwaukee. Junior Kaylin Powell recorded a season-high hitting percentage (.455) in the win while also bringing in a season-best 12 kills and blocking eight. Both Alyssa Ehrhardt and Kelsie Groot registered double-digit kills and digs for the second-consecutive match. The Flames then fell 3-0 to second-place Green Bay on the road the following afternoon.
 
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 match the 1993 squad this weekend in their final pair of road matches, as they are a mere two road wins away from the team'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 17 double-doubles after adding a double-double against Milwuakee this past weekend. The Irvine, Calif., native owns the top spot on the team in kills with an average of 3.70 per set and owns a hitting percentage of .235 (370k-111e-1100a) on the season. Defensively, the outside hitter also ranks second on the team in digs with 2.53 digs per set and has collected 54 total blocks thus far. The outside hitter currently ranks 19th in the nation in total attacks (1100), and also ranks 35 in total kills (370) and 42nd in attacks per set (11.0).
 
Striking Sophomore:
Sophomore Alit Witt has added her name to the UIC record books with a 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 .268 (161k-62e-369a), and has hit .500 or above on seven separate occasions this season and leads the team in total blocks (85). 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 3.50 per set. Ehrhardt owns an attack percentage of .218 (350k-132e-999a) on the season and has also collected 215 digs and a team-high 32 service aces thus far. This past weekend against Milwaukee, Ehrhardt recorded double-digit kills (17) and digs (12) for her second-straight double-double. Nationally, Ehrhardt is ranked 46th in total attacks (999).
 
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 on Oct.24 following her efforts against Oakland. The graduate transfer recorded career high kills (26) and digs (20) against the second-place Golden Grizzlies, in route to her 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 (.220), and also ranks fourth kills (12.74 per set) and assists (11.96 per set). Individually, Groot owns the top spot in the Conference in kills with an average of 3.70 per set, while Ehrhardt sits third with 3.50 per set. Ehrhardt is also second in the League in service aces (0.34 per set), and UIC setter Nicole Johnson ranks fifth in the Horizon League in assists with 10.52 per set. Additionally, Johnson (Kara) ranks seventh in digs with an average of 3.33 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 112 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 Valparaiso
Valparaiso sits just two spots ahead of UIC in the Horizon League after besting Youngstown State 3-1 on Saturday. The Crusaders hold a strong defense, leading the Conference as a team in digs with 17.23 per set and ranking sixth in blocks (2.20 per set). Senior Morganne Longoria leads the Horizon League in digs with 5.04 per set, and sophomore Katherine Carlson sits seventh in the Conference in service aces with an average of 0.29 per set. Valparaiso came out on top of a closely fought battle with UIC earlier this season, defeating the Flames 3-2 in the Flames Athletic Center.
 
About Wright State
Wright State is tied with Valparaiso in the Horizon League rankings with an identical 4-8 Conference record. The Raiders fell 3-0 to third-place Oakland on Saturday, after besting Youngstown State by the same score the night before. WSU sits directly behind Valparaiso as a team in digs across the League in second (16.58 per set). Junior Katie Klusman is fourth in the Conference in kills with 3.48 per set, while junior Megan Hopkins is fourth in blocks with an average of 1.14 per set. UIC looks to even out their seasonal record against Wright State after falling 3-1 to the Raiders earlier this season at home in the Conference opener.