CHICAGO – The UIC volleyball team (12-2) is back home in the Flames Athletic Center this weekend to open up Horizon League action. UIC will host Wright State (5-8) on Friday at 6 p.m. CT and Valparaiso (6-8) on Saturday at 4 p.m.
 
Last Time Out:
The Flames took down cross-town rival Chicago State, 3-0, Tuesday evening to remain undefeated all-time against the Cougars. Senior Casey Harris tabbed a career-high .667 hitting percentage (7k-1e-9a), while fifth-year senior Kelsie Groot hit at a clip of .306 (13k-2e-36a) and added 10 digs for her team-high 10th double-double of the season.

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 the first team to put together ten-straight victories in 30 years, and also gave the Flames their best start under head coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley

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 .383 (97k-23e-193a) and has hit .500 or above on six separate occasions this season.

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 3.70 per set. Ehrhardt owns an attack percentage of .240 (200k-66e-559a) on the season and has also collected 121 digs and 23 service aces across UIC's 54 sets.

Double Trouble:
Groot has made a name of herself within her first month wearing a Flames jersey by collecting a team-high 10 double-doubles. The Irvine, Calif., native owns an average of 3.48 kills per set and is hitting at a clip of .237 (188k-58e-548a) on the season. Defensively, the outside hitter also ranks second on the team in digs with 2.52 digs per set and has collected 27 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. Junior opposite Kyisha 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 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:
Groot represented the Flames on the UIC Invitational All-Tournament team this past weekend, 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:
UIC will head into Horizon League play ranked first in the conference, earning the best record through the first three weeks of the season. As a team, the Flames rank second in the league in kills (13.46 per set), assists (12.46 per set) and hitting percentage (.245). Individually, Witt ranks third in the league in hitting percentage (.383), while redshirt junior Nicole Johnson leads the conference in assists, averaging 11.08 per set. Ehrhardt ranks second in both kills (3.70 per set) and service aces (.43 per set), while Groot joins her on the kills list in fifth with 3.48 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 Wright State
Wright State is 5-8 to start out the 2016 season, and is fresh off a 2-1 performance at the USF Classic this past weekend. The Raiders swept Stetson and defeated LIU Brooklyn to finish runner-up of the tournament. As a team, WSU ranks second amongst the conference in digs, averaging 16.48. The Raiders are also third in the League in assists (12.17 per set) and fourth in blocks (2.16 per set). WSU junior Jessie Thornton leads the Horizon League in digs, averaging 5.02 per set, while fellow junior Maddie Lohmeier ranks fourth in assists with 9.98 per set.

Last Time Against Wright State:
Last year against Wright State, the Flames defeated the Raiders 3-2 (25-18, 27-25, 20-25, 17-25, 19-17) in a closely fought battle featuring 41 tie scores and 12 lead changes. Former Flame Stephenee Yancy tallied 23 kills for the Flames, while Ehrhardt added 13 terminations of her own. UIC owns a 30-23 all-time record against Wright State, and has faced the Raiders every year since 1990.
 
About Valparaiso
Valparaiso fell 3-1 to UNC Greensboro this past Saturday to close out the Ball State Invitational. Senior Morganne Longoria posted a match-high 30 digs and set a career-high of her own in the loss. Valparaiso leads the Horizon League in digs as a team, averaging 17.17 per set. The Crusaders also sit fifth in the conference in blocks with 2.11 per set. Longoria ranks third across the league individually in digs, averaging 4.59 per set.
 
Last Time Against Valparaiso:
Last season against Valparaiso, UIC fell in straight sets (25-15, 25-19, 25-20). Valparaiso led a strong attack, hitting .356 as a team. The Flames are looking to improve on their 25-29 all-time record against the Crusaders in the 55th meeting between the two teams.