CHICAGO – The UIC volleyball team (13-8, 6-2 HL) will wrap its four-match homestand this weekend, hosting Wright State (11-9, 3-5 HL) on Friday, Oct. 19 at 6 p.m. CT and IUPUI (5-17, 2-6 HL) on Saturday, Oct. 20 at 4 p.m. Saturday's match against the Jags will be the annual Dig Pink match, in efforts of raising breast cancer awareness.

LOOKING BACK
The Flames are looking to keep their four-match win streak alive after another 2-0 weekend. UIC took down Oakland 3-1 on Friday (Oct. 12) before holding off top-contending Cleveland State on Saturday (Oct. 13), 3-2. Redshirt freshman Kiera James racked up a career-high 29 kills against the Vikings, earning her the Horizon League's Offensive Player of the Week title.

WHERE WE RANK
The Flames are tied for second in the League after last weekend's 2-0 showing, sharing second place with Cleveland State, just one game back from Green Bay. UIC is hitting .191 as a squad, third-highest in the League, and is also third in assists (12.33 per set), kills (13.15 per set) and blocks (2.28 per set). The Flames are averaging 1.48 services aces per set to lead the League. Ali Witt is UIC's most efficient attacker, hitting .267 thus far to rank fifth in the League, followed by Tatyana Ndekwe in seventh (.266) and Kiera James in a tie for ninth (.241).

BLOCK PARTY
UIC averages 2.28 blocks per set, third highest in the Horizon League. Junior transfer Tatyana Ndekwe leads the block party, owning a 1.12 blocks per set average to come in fifth among League competitors. Ali Witt averages 0.87 blocks per set, followed by Clara Lamb (0.71 blocks per set) and Alexandria Hicks (0.65 blocks per set). The Flames have out blocked 11 opponents thus far - Bryant, Maryland Eastern Shore, Central Michigan, Wofford, Northwestern, Loyola, DePaul, IUPUI, Wright State, Milwaukee and Youngstown State.

DOUBLED UP
Four Flames have posted double-doubles this season: Marija Borcic, Manuela Conte, Lauren Musante and Paola Santiago. Borcic leads the squad with 10, followed by Santiago with seven, Conte with four and Musante with three. Borcic double-doubled against both Oakland and Cleveland State last weekend, including a career-high performance in both assists (62) and digs (20) on Saturday against the Vikings. Santiago notched her seventh double-double of the season on Friday against the Golden Grizzlies with 10 kills and 13 digs.  

SHE'S OUR NUMBER ONE
Redshirt freshman Kiera James has had a big impact on UIC's offense, leading the Flames in total kills (200), with a 2.99 kills per set average to rank fourth in the Horizon League. James is coming off a big weekend, leading UIC in kills against both Oakland and Cleveland State. The Downers Grove, Ill. native racked up 20 kills against the Golden Grizzlies, and followed it up on Saturday with a career-high 29 kills against the Vikings. Her 29 terminations are the most by a single player since Stephenee Yancy's 33 kills against Milwaukee on Nov. 6, 2015, earning her the tile of Horizon League Offensive Player of the Week. James has recorded 20 or more kills in her last three matches, and has amassed seven double-digit kill efforts this season. Against League opponents, James is averaging 4.13 kills per set, second-highest in the conference.

CONTE MAKES HISTORY
Redshirt sophomore Manuela Conte etched her name into UIC's record book on Oct. 7 against Northern Kentucky, posting 35 digs to match the individual single-match dig record. It is just the 16th time in program history that a player has recorded at least 30 digs in a single match, and she matches Maggie Strus's 35-dig showing on Sept. 15, 2012 against Belmont. Since stepping into the libero position on Oct. 5, Conte has averaged 5.00 digs per set, allowing the Flames to out-dig each of their last four opponents with Conte as libero.  

PAOLA'S POWER
Freshman Paola Santiago highlights on both offense and defense for the Flames, averaging 2.66 kills per set and 2.68 digs per set. Santiago has posted a double-double on seven occasions this season – UTEP (08/31), Omaha (08/31), UMKC (09/01), Wofford (09/07), Wright State (09/22), Northern Kentucky (10/07) and Oakland (10/12). The freshman has had double-digit kill efforts in UIC's last six matches and has 10 double-digit kill efforts this season.

NOT SHEEPISH
Freshman Clara Lamb has made a name for herself early on in her UIC career, making a big impact for the Flames both offensively and defensively. Lamb was named to the All-Tournament team at the Omaha Challenge, UCF Challenge and the Chicago Cup after standout performances at all three tournaments. The freshman has already racked up 164 kills, and is hitting at a clip of .221 (164k-63e-456a) to rank fourth amongst UIC's attackers. Defensively, Lamb has accumulated 54 total blocks for a 0.71 per set average, third-highest on the Flames' roster. Friday against Oakland, Lamb notched a career-high 14 kills for her sixth double-digit kill effort of the season.

ACED IT
UIC is the Horizon League's leader in service aces, averaging 1.48 aces per set. Manuela Conte and Marija Borcic both average 0.37 aces per set to tie for second in the conference. The Flames have recorded 117 aces as a team, compared to just 82 by their opponents. UIC opponents average 1.04 aces per set, third-lowest in the Horizon League.

FRESH FACES
UIC welcomes 11 newcomers to the 2018 squad, 10 of which are freshman. Tatyana Ndekwe is a junior transfer from Hutchison, and the squad's 10 freshmen are Sierra Bolen, Marija Borcic, Hailey Duncan, Paola Santiago, Michelle Glover, Clara Lamb, Lauren Musante, Velina Minkova, Francesca Wagoner and Emily Kelly. The newcomers are already making an impact, as 48 percent of UIC's kills, 58 percent of its digs and 57 percent of its blocks have come at the hands of a first-year Flame. 

SENIORITY
The Flames look to its two seniors to anchor the 2018 squad in Carla Salvato and Ali Witt. Salvato, a local talent coming out of neighboring Saint Ignatius College Prep, led the squad from the libero position in all 30 matches last season. The senior is averaging 2.37 digs per set and 0.24 service aces per set this season.

Witt hails from suburban Crystal Lake, Ill., and has been a strong offensive presence for the Flames the past two seasons. She led the squad last season with 104 blocks, while also averaging 1.87 kills per set on the offensive side. The middle blocker owns two of UIC's top 10 single-match attack percentages all-time, recording the ninth highest in UIC history last season (.727) and the fifth highest in her sophomore year (.786). The senior was named MVP of this year's UIC Invitational after leading the Flames to a perfect 3-0 appearance.  The senior averaged 2.00 kills per set, registering a .469 attack percentage (18k-3e-32a) while registering a mere three errors across all three matches.

KEY RETURNERS
In addition to its two seniors, UIC returns four players from the 2017 roster. Sophomore Alexandria Hicks and redshirt sophomore Manuela Conte are both entering their second year in a Flames jersey after both earning a spot on the Horizon League All-Freshman Team last season. Sophomore Alexandra Drosopoulou is also returning this season after gathering 198 kills, 246 digs and 27 service aces in 26 appearances last season.

SCOUTING WRIGHT STATE
The Raiders grabbed a pair of wins last weekend, defeating IUPUI 3-1 on Friday (Oct. 12) and besting Northern Kentucky 3-2 on Sunday (Oct. 14). The Raiders are second in the League behind the Flames in service aces, averaging 1.47 aces per set. Elsewhere in the League, the Raiders are fourth in blocks (2.13 per set), fifth in hitting percentage (.163) and sixth in digs (17.15 per set). UIC is 33-25 in all-time against Wright State, and the Raiders landed on top 3-1 in this year's earlier meeting between the two teams.

SCOUTING IUPUI
IUPUI is on a four-match losing streak after losing 3-1 to both Wright State and Northern Kentucky this past weekend. Around the Horizon League the Jags rank second in digs (19.24 per set), fifth in blocks (2.01 per set) and sixth in both assists (11.24 per set) and kills (12.11 per set). The Flames are 7-3 all-time against IUPUI after taking a 3-1 road victory over the Jags back on Sept. 21.

LOOKING AHEAD
The Flames will return to the road next week for rematches against Cleveland State and Oakland.