CHICAGO – The UIC volleyball team (10-0) will open up the 2016 home campaign this weekend when it hosts the UIC Invitational on Friday (Sept. 16) and Saturday (Sept. 17). The Flames are looking to extend their 10-match win streak as they tackle SIUE (5-3) on Friday at 7 p.m. UIC will close out the home tournament on Saturday when they take on UMass Lowell (5-6) at 10 a.m. and Bowling Green (7-3) at 5 p.m.

UIC is fresh off their tenth-straight victory, all of which have come on the road, as they toppled Loyola 3-1 (25-22, 25-20, 19-25, 25-18) Tuesday Evening to match the longest winning streak in program history. 

Perfect 10:
The Flames matched the longest-winning streak in program history with Tuesday's victory  to continue their perfect start to the 2016 season. The last squad to earn ten straight was the 1986 squad, who went undefeated from Sept.19-Oct. 10. The 2016 UIC team's 10-0 start is not only the best start the Flames have recorded under head coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley, but it is the best start in program history.  Along the way to ten straight, UIC has captured tournament crowns at the Redhawks Invitational, the JAX Classic and the DePaul Invitational. 

Exclusive Group of Eleven:
UIC is one of 11 remaining unbeaten teams in the NCAA through Sept. 13. In addition to the Flames, the following teams do not carry a loss into the weekend: BYU, Dayton, East Carolina, Kansas, Nebraska, Santa Clara, South Carolina, UNLV, Washington and Weber State. UIC's 10 victories rank as the second-most among that group behind Dayton's 11.

Senior Superlative:
Senior Alyssa 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 3.88 per set. Ehrhardt owns an attack percentage of .260 (159k-45e-438a) on the season and has also collected 92 digs and 20 service aces across UIC's 41 sets.

Double Trouble:
Graduate Transfer Kelsie Groot has made a name of herself within her first month wearing a Flames jersey  by collecting a team-high eight double-doubles. The Irvine, Calif., native registered double digits in both kills and digs at every match thus far with the exception of New Orleans (Aug. 27) and DePaul (Sept. 10). Groot owns an average of 3.56 kills per set and is hitting at a clip of .252 (146k-43e-409a) on the season. The outside hitter also ranks second on the team in digs with 2.49 digs per set.
  
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. Junior opposite Kyisha Hunt (.643) and sophomore middle blocker Ali Witt (.667) each posted individual career highs against UNO. 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 143 total digs and average of 3.49 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:
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, Kelsie 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:
UIC continues to sit at the top of the leaderboards across the Horizon League. As a team, The Flames lead the league in kills (13.71 per set), assists (12.73 per set) and hitting percentage (.260). Individually, Witt ranks third in the league in hitting percentage (.366), while redshirt junior Nicole Johnson leads the conference in assists, averaging 11.46 per set. Ehrhardt ranks second in both kills (3.88 per set) and service aces (.49 per set), while Groot joins her on the kills list in the fourth with 3.56 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 107 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 SIUE
SIUE has won its last four matches, including its most recent 3-0 victory over Manhattan to clinch the Columbia Classic this past weekend. Junior Taylor Joens was named MVP of the Invitational after collecting 42 kills and a .429 hitting percentage for the weekend. Five SIUE players hit above .300 at the tournament, as the Cougars also notched victories against Columbia and Bryant. Friday's match will be the second match between UIC and SIUE all-time, and the first meeting between the two teams since 2008, when the Flames bested the Cougars 3-1 at home.

About UMass Lowell
The River Hawks are looking to snap a three-game losing streak at the UIC Invitational following a 3-0 loss to Northeastern Tuesday night. Freshman Madi Bell paces UMass offensively with a hitting percentage of .225 (107k-42e-289a), while sophomore Lindsey Visvardis heads the River Hawk defense, averaging 3.95 digs per set. Saturday's match will be the first-ever meeting between UIC and Umass Lowell.

About Bowling Green
Bowling Green is off to a 7-3 start to open the 2016 season, and has won its last four matches. The Falcon's swept Valparaiso Tuesday evening 3-0 to match their 2015 total wins just three weeks into the season. BGSU went 3-0 at the EIU Panther Classic last weekend, and also went undefeated in its own invitational Sept. 2-3. UIC will close out the Invitational against the Falcons on Saturday, which will be the first time the two teams have met since 2005.
 
Live stats for all matches and links to live broadcasts for UIC matches are available on the tournament website, and can also be found on the UIC schedule page.