CHICAGO – The UIC women's volleyball team matched its longest winning streak in program history with a 3-1 (25-22, 25-20, 19-25, 25-18) over crosstown rival Loyola Tuesday evening in the Gentile Arena. The 2016 Flames are the first team to win 10 straight since the 1986 squad.

Kelsie Groot paced UIC offensively, earning her team-high eighth double-double of the season. Groot collected 15 kills and 11 digs, registering a hitting percentage of .209 (15k-6e-43a). Senior Alyssa Ehrhardt hit at a clip of .275 (13k-2e-40a), while sophomore Ali Witt added 8 terminations with no errors. Senior Kara Johnson registered 13 kills, and redshirt junior Nicole Johnson added nine digs alongside her 44 assists.

"It's always a great match when we play against a local rival like Loyola, and tonight was no exception" said UIC head coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley. "We need to continue to improve our ability to close out matches when we have the opportunity, but we were able to maintain our focus and do all the little things needed to be successful and get a win on the road against a very talented Loyola team. We're all excited to play at home this weekend and show our fans how hard we've been working to come together as one."

UIC led by one at the 22-21 mark in the first set when a kill by junior Kyisha Hunt put the Flames up by two. A UIC service error brought Loyola back within one, but Groot and senior Casey Harris combined with a kill each to put the Flames up 1-0 early.

The second set was a thriller, with 17 tie scores and four lead changes. Neither team led by more than one until UIC was able to pull away, 21-19 on a Loyola attack error. Another Rambler attack error and a combination block made up of Johnson and Harris put the score at 23-19. The Flames took advantage of two more Loyola errors before Ehrhardt buried a feed from Johnson to UIC one set away from capturing the match.

The Flames were unable to keep on pace with Loyola through the third set, and found themselves in a 23-18 hole late in the frame. A kill by Witt gave UIC its final point of the frame before a Flames attack error and a kill by Loyola's Morgan Reardon gave the Ramblers a win to cut UIC's lead in half.

With a 20-17 lead in game four, the Flames registered three unanswered points on two Loyola errors and a Groot kill to extend their lead to 6 (23-17). A UIC attack error gave Loyola one more point, but a pair of kills from Hunt sealed the deal on the Flames' tenth straight.  

The Flames will open up their home campaign this weekend with the UIC Invitational. The Flames will face SIUE on Friday, Sept. 16 at 7 p.m. CT and UMass Lowell (10 a.m.) and Bowling Green (5 p.m.) on Saturday, Sept. 17.