CHICAGO – The UIC women's volleyball team brought down cross-town rival Chicago State, 3-0 (25-16, 26-24, 25-18), Tuesday evening in the Jones Convocation Center to remain unbeaten by the Cougars in program history. The sweep was the Flames' 18th straight victory versus CSU all-time.
Graduate transfer Kelsey Groot brought in her tenth appearance of double-digit kills and digs. The outside hitter tabbed 13 kills and 10 digs for a hitting percentage of .306 (13k-2e-36a). Senior
Casey Harris earned a career-high .667 hitting percentage (7k-1a-9a), while sophomore
Ali Witt hit at a clip of .600 (7k-1e-10a).
Senior
Alyssa Ehrhardt recorded 15 terminations and five digs in the sweep, and senior
Kara Johnson added 10 digs on defense.
With the score of the first frame at 18-15, UIC, kills from both
Kyisha Hunt and Harris as well as CSU attack error gave the Flames three-straight points to extend their lead, 21-15. A UIC error gave the Cougars one final point in the game before the Flames scored four straight, featuring another two kills from Harris, to go up 1-0 in the match.
The Flames were up 21-15 in the second game, but a few costly errors alongside Chicago State's offense allowed the Cougars to catch up, tying the set at 22. A kill by Groot put UIC up by one, but a pair of kills from CSU's Dzeni Hadzisehovic turned the tables to give the Cougars a one-point lead. Hunt struck again to even out the score at 24, while Harris and Ehrhardt finished out the set with a termination each to put the Flames up two sets to none.
UIC led 18-13 in set three when a Groot kill and a pair of CSU errors gave the Flames a comfortable 21-13 lead. UIC brought the game to match point, 24-16, before the Cougars chipped in two more attacks for points to set the score at 24-18. Ehrhardt took a feed from
Nicole Johnson to tally the final point and complete the sweep for the Flames.
The Flames will return home to open up Horizon League play this weekend with a pair of matches against Wright State and Valparaiso. The Flames will take on the Raiders Friday, Sept. 23 at 6 p.m. CT, and the Crusaders Saturday, Sept. 24 at 4 p.m. in the Flames Athletic Center.
