CHICAGO – The UIC volleyball team (11-4, 2-0 HL) will look to keep its perfect Horizon League record intact this weekend as they hit the road for a pair of matches against Conference foes Green Bay (6-7, 2-0 HL) and Milwaukee (8-8, 1-1 HL). The flames will take on Green Bay on Saturday and 4 p.m. CT before battling Milwaukee on Sunday at 2 p.m.
 
LOOKING BACK
UIC opened up Conference action last weekend with great success, taking a 3-0 sweep of Youngstown State on Friday (Sept. 22) and a 3-1 win over defending Champions Cleveland State on Saturday (Sept. 23) in the Flames Athletic Center to start off League play with a 2-0 record. The Flames join IUPUI and Saturday's opponent Green Bay as the only three teams to take their first two Horizon League matches.

Friday night against the Penguins, UIC hit .376 as a team, which was good for ninth-highest in Flames' Division I history in addition to being a season high.  Saturday's win over Cleveland State was UIC's first since Nov. 1, 2014, and also featured a team season-high 12 blocks for the Flames.

WHERE WE RANK
UIC sits atop the Horizon League rankings after its success last weekend, alongside Green Bay and IUPUI. As a team, the Flames rank third across the League in kills (13.50 per set), hitting percentage (.222) and assists (12.77 per set). UIC is also second in the Horizon League in service aces, averaging 1.52 per set, and fourth in digs with an average of 16.16 per set. The Flames also own the top hitting percentage in the League in Conference action thus far, hitting .323 after this past weekend.

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 12.77 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 5.91 assists per set entering the weekend, while Skopal follows closely in ninth with 5.66.

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 with 3.77 digs per set through UIC's 15 matches. She's also leads UIC with 21 service aces this season, ranking her third in the Horizon League with a 0.38 per set average.  

HUNTING SEASON
Kyisha Hunt has been UIC's most prolific attacker this season. The Kankakee, Ill., native leads the squad with 3.48 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 .264, while leading UIC with 195 kills overall. Hunt was crowned most valuable player at the CEFCU Classic and also represented the Flames on the Cougar Invitational All-Tournament team.

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 third in the Horizon League with 4.54 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 GREEN BAY
Green Bay joined UIC on a 2-0 start in the first weekend of Horizon League play with a 3-1 win against Oakland on Friday and a 3-0 sweep of Youngstown State on Saturday. The Phoenix are just above the Flames in the Horizon League rankings in kills (13.64 per set) and assists (13.00 per set), and are currently fifth in the League in hitting percentage (.203). Senior Lydia DeWeese is second in the Conference with a .365 hitting percentage, while sophomore setter Maddie Yoss leads the Horizon League with an average of 11.45 assists per set. The Flames are 36-22 all-time versus the Phoenix.

SCOUTING MILWAUKEE
The Panthers had split decisions in their first weekend of Horizon League play, falling 3-1 to Cleveland State on Friday before besting Oakland by the same score on Saturday. Milwaukee is second in the Conference in hitting percentage, just one spot above the Flames, hitting at a clip of .224 as a team. The Panthers are third in the League in service aces, just beneath UIC, averaging 1.49 per set, and are also fourth in both kills (13.19 per set) and assists (12.58 per set). On the defensive side, Milwaukee sits third in the Horizon League in blocks with an average of 2.16 per set. The Flames went 1-1 against the Panthers last season, suffering a 3-0 loss on a road early in Conference play before taking a 3-1 victory at home late last October.

LOOKING AHEAD
UIC will continue its four-game road series next weekend against Northern Kentucky (Oct. 6) and Wright State (Oct. 7).