CHICAGO – Facing a pivotal weekend in the Horizon League standings, The UIC women's volleyball team (16-9, 7-5 HL) grabbed it's third-consecutive Horizon League win on Sunday afternoon with a 3-2 (24-26, 25-20, 25-23, 20-25, 16-14) victory over Milwaukee (11-15, 4-8 HL). The Flames recorded a season-high 15.5 total blocks as a team, while ensuring their highest Conference win total since 2014.

Match Highlights

• Set One: The Flames opened up the match with a 4-1 lead, but the Panthers eventually tied it at 8. After 13 additional tied scores, the set eventually went to the visitors, 26-24.
• Set One: UIC tallied 18 kills in set one, compared to Milwaukee's 15, while the Panthers outhit the Flames .353-.286.
• Set Two: Trailing 6-5 early on, the Flames rallied for ten straight, creating a comfortable 15-6 lead. The streak featured kills from Alexandria Hicks, Sarah Daneliak and Brecken Roe, as well as a handful of Milwaukee errors.
• Set Two: The Panthers dug their heels in and took the next six, until Alexandra Drosopoulou drained a feed from Kaliegh Skopal to stop the streak, 16-12.
• Set Two: Leading 17-15, UIC took a trio of points off of kills from Hunt and Conte, 20-15. The Milwaukee offense took a point, but the Flames notched another pair at the hands of Ali Witt and Kyisha Hunt, 22-16. The Flames went on to take the set 25-20 to tie the match at one apiece heading into the locker room.
• Set Three: Trailing 11-9 to start the third, UIC rattled off five straight to take the lead, 14-11, with kills from Hunt, Daneliak and Hicks, while Skopal added a service ace. The Panthers grabbed the next three to tie it, 14-14, as the Flames were called back to the bench.
• Set Three: Seven of the next nine went in favor of the Flames, 21-16, but a UIC error and a trio of Panther kills put Milwaukee within one, 21-20.
• Set Four: Milwaukee jumped out to an 8-3 lead to start set four, and never looked back. The Flames would come within one at the 20-19 mark, but would never be able to overcome the visitors, who took set four, 25-20.
• Set Five: UIC started the tiebreaker with a 7-2 lead, but the Panthers were relentless, tying the match at 10 apiece, and eventually taking over the lead at the 12-11 mark.
• Set Five: Following a UIC timeout, Hunt stepped up and gave the Flames two, and a Milwaukee error gave UIC a 14-12 advantage. The Panthers tied it with a pair, but Nicole Johnson came up with a kill and a huge block from Daneliak and Hicks put Milwaukee away for good, 16-14.

Facts and Figures

• Kyisha Hunt tied her career-high kill total on Sunday with a match-high 25 kills. The senior hit .358 (25k-6e-53ta), and added three block assists.
• Ali Witt hit at a clip of .727 (9k-1e-11ta) to record the ninth-highest individual single-match attack percentage in Division I history. Witt also saw action up front with four block assists.
• Sarah Daneliak led the Flames up at the net with a career-best 11 total blocks on Sunday, while also killing seven and digging out five.
• Alexandria Hicks killed 14 for the offense, while contributing seven block assists to the team's season-high performance.
• Manuela Conte put in another well-rounded effort, tabbing 10 kills and nine digs, while also assisting in four blocks.
• Libero Carla Salvato paced the Flames with 18 digs, while each Flame that saw playing time contributed at least one dig in Sunday's victory.
• Setters Nicole Johnson and Kaliegh Skopal earned 33 and 31 assists, respectively, while also digging out seven each.

Up Next

• The Flames will wrap up the homestand next weekend with Wright State (Nov. 3) and Northern Kentucky (Nov. 4)
• Saturday, Nov. will serve as senior night for the Flames, as it will be their final home contest of the season. UIC will honor seniors Kyisha Hunt and Nicole Johnson following the match.