CHICAGO – The UIC volleyball team (14-9, 5-5 HL) will open a four-match homestand this weekend by welcoming a pair of Horizon League opponents to the Flames Athletic Center. UIC will tackle Green Bay (10-11, 6-4 HL) on Friday, Oct. 27 at 6 p.m. before taking on Milwaukee (11-13, 4-6 HL) in a rare Sunday (Oct. 29) match at 4 p.m.

The weekend's competition is pivotal for the Flames in the conference standings, as Green Bay sits just one spot above UIC in the Horizon League rankings in fourth, while Milwaukee sits in seventh just one place below the UIC-Northern Kentucky tie for fifth.

LOOKING BACK
The Flames fought back from a 2-0 deficit on Friday at Cleveland State to tie the match at 2-2, but were unable to get it done in the tiebreaker, falling 15-10 to give the Vikings the 3-2 win. UIC went on to take a 3-1 win against Youngstown State on Saturday to officially surpass last season's Horizon League win total of four.

Both Ali Witt and Kyisha Hunt matched their career-high total blocks on Saturday at Youngstown State, recording seven and six blocks, respectively. Setter Nicole Johnson recorded her fifth double-double of the season against the Penguins, notching 10 digs alongside her 18 assists.

WHERE WE RANK
For the second-straight week, the Flames are locked in a tie for fifth place in the Horizon League standings with Northern Kentucky, as both teams own a 5-5 conference record.
UIC is also fifth in the League in hitting percentage, converting at a clip of .208 as a team. The Flames are second in service aces, with a 1.33 per set average, and are also third in assists (12.91 per set), and fourth in kills (13.46 per set). Defensively, UIC is fourth in the Horizon League in digs with a 16.12 per set average.

Individually, Ali Witt leads the Flames with a .303 hitting percentage, which ranks her fifth in the League. Sarah Daneliak moved up a spot in the hitting percentage ranks this week and is now seventh with a clip of .291.  

NEW FACES
The UIC roster boasts seven newcomers, all of which are freshmen. The group includes libero Andrea Aviles, outside hitters Alexandra Drosopoulou, Brecken Roe, Kiera James and Manuela Conte, opposite Alexandria Hicks and setter Kaliegh Skopal. Conte is a redshirt freshman after attending Oklahoma in 2016-17, however she did not appear in a match for the Sooners, retaining four seasons of eligibility. Six of the seven newcomers have appeared in a match this season with James as the lone exception.

SETTING FOR SUCCESS
Utilizing two primary setters, UIC ranks third in the Horizon League with 12.78 assists per set this season. The two Flames who spread the ball around, true freshman Kaliegh Skopal and fifth-year senior Nicole Johnson, each rank in the top 10 in the conference in assists. Johnson is eighth with 6.32 assists per set entering the weekend, while Skopal follows in ninth with 5.36.

INGRAM IS IN
UIC head coach Justin Ingram is in his first season at the helm for the Flames. He arrived in Chicago following a very successful five-year stint at Southern Illinois in which he guided the Salukis to 101 victories and the program's first NCAA Tournament bid in 2015. Ingram, the seventh head coach in program history, is a two-time conference Coach of the Year after capturing the award in 2015 at SIU and 2011 at Arkansas State. He graduated from Iowa State in 1995 and received a master's degree from Cal Poly in 1998.
  
CONTE'S CONNECTIONS
Manuela Conte, of Bologna, Italy, has a deep family history in volleyball. Her father, Hugo, is a member of the International Volleyball Hall of Fame after he appeared in the Olympic Games three times for his native Argentina. Hugo was a member of the 1984, 1988 and 2000 contingents and he helped the country capture a bronze medal in volleyball in 1988. Conte's brother, Facundo, competed for Team Argentina at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janiero and he also plays professionally in China.

Conte ranks second on the Flames and ninth in the Horizon League with 3.91 digs per set through 82 sets of action. She also leads UIC with 26 service aces this season, ranking her fourth in the conference with a 0.32 per set average. The freshman also leads the Flames with six double-doubles this season, including her most recent double-digit kill and double-digit dig performance against IUPUI on Oct. 14.

HUNTING SEASON
Kyisha Hunt has been UIC's most prolific attacker this season. The Kankakee, Ill., native averaged 4.44 kills per set last weekend against Oakland and IUPUI, including a 23 kill performance against Cleveland State for the second-highest mark of her career. The senior leads the squad with 3.76 kills per set, which ranks third in the Horizon League, and has recorded 20 plus kill efforts in three of UIC's last five matches. Hunt is also third on the Flames in hitting percentage, as she's converted at a clip of .252. Hunt was crowned most valuable player at the CEFCU Classic and also represented the Flames on the Cougar Invitational All-Tournament team earlier this season.

INTERNATIONAL FLAVOR
UIC's 2017 roster features four international standouts. Manuela Conte and junior Gaia Gbola are from Italy, coming from Bologna and Ravenna, respectively. Alexandra Drosopulou came to Chicago by way of Thessaloniki, Greece. Andrea Aviles' hometown is San Juan, Puerto Rico.

CLOSER TO HOME
Carla Salvato was named Horizon League Player of the week on Sept. 11 following a stellar performance at the CEFCU Classic. The junior registered a career-high 31 digs on Sept. 8 against Bradley, which was only the 15^th time in program history that a UIC player recorded 30 plus digs in a match. Salvato dug out 10 in the sweep of Murray State (Sept. 9), and closed out the CEFCU Classic with a match-high 28 digs in the finale against Bradley on Sept. 9. The libero earned a spot on the CEFCU Classic's All-Tournament team, averaging 5.75 digs per set in the tournament, and sits fourth in the Horizon League with 4.40 digs per set this season. Salvato is not just one of the Flames' Chicago natives, but she attended high school right down the street from UIC's urban campus. Salvato attended nearby Saint Ignatius College Prep, which is just west of the Flames Athletic Center. 
 
HAMPTON'S HEROES
Two UIC standouts, junior Alit Witt and redshirt freshman Manuela Conte, were named to the Hampton Inn Invitational All-Tournament Team. Witt averaged 2.42 kills per set while hitting a team-best .323 from her post in the middle. She also added nine blocks in three matches. Perhaps her biggest block of the weekend came as UIC mounted a furious third-set rally in the finale against Duquesne. The Flames trailed the game 17-12 at one point, but led 26-25 when Witt and teammate Kyisha Hunt got together to stuff an attack and complete the sweep.
 
Conte did a bit of everything in what was her first taste of collegiate competition, tallying 4.83 digs per set at the tournament. The Italian dug out a match-high 27 attacks in the season-opening win over Bowling Green and followed that up with 19 more against Xavier in a four-set match. She also finished the Hampton Inn Invitational with 19 kills, four aces, four assists and three blocks.
 
SCOUTING GREEN BAY
Green Bay fell to third-place Oakland on Saturday by a final score of 3-2 after sweeping Youngstown State the evening prior. The Phoenix are fourth in the Horizon League overall standings, while leading the conference in both kills (13.91 per set) and assists (13.25 per set). Green Bay is third in hitting percentage across the Horizon League, hitting at a clip of .223 as a team. Middle blocker Lydia DeWeese leads the Phoenix offensive front, ranking second in the League with a .348 hitting percentage, while sitting sixth in kills, averaging 3.32 per set. Setter Maddie Yoss leads the Horizon League with 11.58 assists per set, while libero Vanessa Buman is third in the conference with 4.49 digs per set. The first meeting of the season between UIC and Green Bay ended in favor of the Phoenix, 3-1, on Sept. 30.

SCOUTING MILWAUKEE
The Panthers also fell 3-2 to Oakland last weekend, on Friday, before taking a 3-1 loss to second-place Cleveland State on Saturday. Milwaukee places in the top five of every Horizon League leaderboard, with the exception of digs, ranking third in kills (13.54 per set), fourth in hitting percentage (.215), assists (12.76 per set) and service aces (1.18 per set), and fifth in blocks (2.09 per set). Setter Jenn Dore sits just below Green Bay's Yoss in the assist rankings in second with an average of 11.55 assists per set. Sophomore Bridget Wallenberger is fourth in the League in kills, averaging 3.42 per set, while also coming in sixth in the hitting percentage ranks with a clip of .301. The Flames bested the Panthers 3-2 on Oct. 1 in a close match that saw neither team take a frame by more than a four-point margin.

LOOKING AHEAD
The Flames will play their final home matches of the regular season next weekend against Wright State (Nov. 3) and Northern Kentucky (Nov. 4). Saturday's match versus Northern Kentucky will serve as senior day, as the Flames will honor seniors Nicole Johnson and Kyisha Hunt following the match.