EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – The UIC women's volleyball team (9-4) closed out the Cougar Invitational on Saturday evening with a 3-0 loss (17-21, 20-25, 19-25) to host SIUE (10-2), halting the Flames' win streak at seven. UIC previously swept Seattle earlier on Saturday, 3-0 (25-23, 25-17, 25-12) and also defeated Montana on Friday afternoon, 3-1 (25-18, 25-21, 22-25, 25-20) to wrap up the tournament with a 2-1 record. 

Kyisha Hunt was named to the All-Tournament team after leading the UIC offense throughout the weekend. The senior hit .258 while averaging 3.6 kills per set across all three games.

Sarah Daneliak also aided in the Flames' offense, hitting .346 while averaging 2.4 kills per set. Additionally, Ali Witt averaged 2.1 kills per set and recorded a .267 attack percentage on the weekend.

Salvato continues to pace UIC's defense, averaging 3.7 digs per set at the Cougar Invite. Brecken Roe also made a name for herself, digging out an average of 2.9 per set including a career-high 12 last night against Montana.

Manuela Conte contributed a well-rounded effort collecting 26 digs and 18 kills in the Flames' three matches.

How It Happened vs. Seattle
Seattle pulled out to a 6-2 lead early on in set one, but the Flames four unanswered points to grab their first lead, 11-10. The Redhawks came back and tied it 12 all, but this time UIC responded with a five-point streak. The Flames eventually jumped to a six-point lead, 21-16, before Seattle began chipping away, taking five of the next six to come within one, 22-21. Conte and Hunt came to the rescue with a pair of kills to bring UIC to match point, but the Redhawks came back with two of their own before the Flames would close out set one off a Seattle service error, 25-23.

The second frame started in the opposite direction, with the Flames grabbing an 8-4 lead early while the Redhawks had to work to catch up and bring the set to a 14-14 tie. UIC took five of the next six to make it 19-15 before Seattle was called back to the bench. The Redhawks were able to add one before the Flames once again took off, taking the next five to come within one point of the victory, 24-16. A UIC error gave the Redhawks their final point of the game before set two mimicked set one by ending in a Seattle service error, 25-17. 

Set three saw a 9-8 Flames lead before Witt and Hunt each knocked down a pair of feeds to extend the lead to 13-8. Following a Redhawk timeout, Roe served up two service aces alongside two Seattle errors to extend the Flames lead to 17-8, forcing the Redhawks to use their second timeout of the set.  Kills from Conte, Hunt, Daneliak and Hicks as well as a Conte ace brought UIC to match point, 24-11. Seattle's offense was only able to come up with one more before the Flames capped their seventh-straight win, 25-12.

How It Happened vs. SIUE
Game one went to SIUE, after they pulled out to an 11-4 lead early and the Flames were unable to catch up. The Cougar's offense put up a hitting percentage of .345 in the set with 14 kills as a team, and held UIC's offense to just eight kills. SIUE led by as many as ten, and closed out the first set with a 25-17 victory.

UIC kept up with the Cougars through most of set two, with the Flames trailing by one, 17-16. But a pair of unanswered points quickly followed by a string of three more unanswered points gave SIUE a 22-17 cushion. UIC called a timeout to regroup, after which Witt and Daneliak kills alongside a Cougar attack error gave the Flames three more points before SIUE took the set, 25-20.  

Set three was another close contest until the final stages, with six tie scores. The final tie of the match came at the 18-18 mark, but SIUE took seven of the next eight off an offense surge featuring six buried feeds to take its third and final set 25-19.  

Up Next
The Flames return home to Chicago to open up Horizon League play on Friday (Sept. 22) against Youngstown State and Saturday (Sept. 23) versus Cleveland State.