CHICAGO – The UIC volleyball team (9-4) will open up Horizon League action this weekend with a pair of matches in the Flames Athletic Center. The Flames will battle Youngstown State on Friday, Sept. 22 at 6 p.m. CT before dueling with Cleveland State on Saturday at 4 p.m.  
 
LOOKING BACK
UIC closed out non-conference action with a 2-1 record at the Cougar Invitational this past weekend. The Flames premiered the tournament with a 3-1 (25-18, 25-21, 22-25, 25-20) win over Montana, and went on to sweep Seattle on Saturday 3-0 (25-23, 25-17, 25-12) before falling to host SIUE in the tournament's finale, 3-0 (17-25, 20-25, 19-25).
Senior Kyisha Hunt earned a spot on the Cougar Invitational All-Tournament Team after leading the UIC offense throughout the weekend. The opposite hit .258 while averaging 3.6 kills per set across all three games.

On the defense, junior Carla Salvato led the way, averaging 3.7 digs per set in the tournament. Freshman Brecken Roe broke through with a career-high 12 digs against Montana, and ended the invitational with an average of 2.9 digs per set.

WHERE WE RANK
The Flames are entering Horizon League play ranked in the top five in the Conference across five different categories, including hitting percentage, kills, assists, service aces and digs. As a team, the Flames sit third in hitting percentage (.209), kills (13.39 per set) and assists (12.71 per set). Additionally, UIC is second across the League in service aces with an average of 1.53 per set, while ranking fourth in digs, averaging 16.39 per set.

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 12.71 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 5.78 assists per set entering the weekend, while Skopal follows closely in ninth with 5.71.

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 3.88 digs per set through UIC's 10 matches. She's also tied with Skopal for the most service aces this season with 18, after recording six this past weekend at the Cougar Invite.
 
HUNTING SEASON
Kyisha Hunt has been UIC's most prolific attacker this season. The Kankakee, Ill., native leads the squad with 3.57 kills per set, which ranks fourth in the Horizon League. Hunt is also third on the Flames in hitting percentage as she's converted at a clip of .275, while leading UIC with 175 kills overall. Hunt was crowned most valuable player at the CEFCU Classic and represented the Flames on the Cougar Invitational All-Tournament team this past weekend.

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
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 third in the Horizon League with 4.63 digs per set. 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 YOUNGSTOWN STATE
Youngstown State is an even 7-7 on the season thus far after taking two of three this past weekend at the Blue/Gold Invitational hosted by the University of Toledo. The Penguins fell to New Mexico 3-0 in their first match and rallied to take their next two, 3-0 against Tennessee Tech and 3-2 versus Toledo. YSU currently leads the Horizon League as a team in service aces, averaging 1.65 per set, while also ranking sixth in the League in both hitting percentage (.198) and blocks (1.96 per set).

UIC is 29-12 overall against Youngstown State, grabbing both a win and a loss to the Penguins last season. The Flames swept YSU on Oct. 14, 2016, 3-0, before dropping a 3-2 decision on Nov. 11, 2016.

SCOUTING CLEVELAND STATE
The Vikings are 7-4 this season, after wrapping up non-conference play with a 2-1 record at the Panther Challenge hosted by Pittsburgh. Cleveland State defeated both Eastern Kentucky and UC Santa Barbara by a score of 3-1 before falling to host Pittsburgh 3-0. The Vikings sit at the top of the Horizon League leaderboards in hitting percentage (.264), kills (13.79 per set) and assists (13.10 per set). Additionally, CSU ranks third in the League in blocks with a 2.17 average per set. The Flames are 40-30 all-time versus the Vikings.

LOOKING AHEAD
Following this weekend's pair of matches, UIC will hit the road to continue Conference play by traveling to Wisconsin to take on Green Bay (Sept. 30) and Milwaukee (Oct. 1).