OMAHA, Neb. – The UIC volleyball team (3-2) dropped two closely matched battles against UTEP (2-2) and Omaha (2-3) in day one of the Omaha Challenge. The Flames fell 3-2 (27-29, 25-22, 25-16, 23-25, 16-18) to UTEP in the opener before taking a 3-1 (21-25, 26-24, 26-28, 21-25) loss to the hosts in the nightcap.

Match Highlights vs. UTEP

• Set One: UIC took a commanding 12-4 lead to open the match, but five unanswered points from UTEP put the Miners within striking distance, 12-9. Kills from Ali Witt, Alexandria Hicks, Manuela Conte and Paola Santiago gave the Flames a 19-14 lead.
• Set One: Attack errors on both sides of the net led to a 22-15 lead for UIC, but two Miner kills and two Flames errors put the tally at 22-19. Clara Lamb sank a termination, but three more UIC errors put the miners within one, 23-22.
• Set One: Conte recorded another kill, but UTEP responded with a kill of its own, 24-23, and an error tied the match at 24 all. The score tied at 25, 26 and 27 as the two offenses battled for the two-point win, and a service error and an attack error by the Flames allowed UTEP to seal the comeback victory, 29-27.
• Set Two:  Tied at 16, the Flames took four straight by way of two Miner errors, a kill from Santiago and an ace from Lauren Musante. Following a UTEP timeout, the Miners offense came up with a kill, but a block from Santiago and Tatyana Ndekwe made it 21-17.
• Set Two: Lamb buried a feed from Musante, but two Flames errors put the score at 22-19. Conte and Witt registered successful attacks to put UIC at set point, and it was Lamb once again to finish the set, 25-22, and tie the match at one set apiece.  
• Set Three:  UIC stared down an 11-4 hole to start set three, but the Flames buckled down and got to work, taking the next 11 points for a 15-11 advantage. The Miners used a kill for the sideout and took another by way of a UIC error, but the Flames opened another streak and scored six more unanswered points, 21-13.
• Set Three: A pair of kills from UTEP made it 22-15, and Kiera James responded for UIC with a pair of kills, 24-15. The Miners would get one more before Hicks finished the set in favor of the Flames, 25-16.
• Set Four: Trailing by a pair, 21-19, a kill from Witt put UIC within one. After a UTEP timeout, the Miners' offense regrouped and took the next two, 23-20. Witt nailed another termination, but the UTEP offense struck again, 24-21. Hicks and Santiago combined to put the Flames back within one, but another Miner kill finished the frame, 25-23.
• Set Five: The tiebreaker set started with a 4-1 Flames lead, but UTEP fought back, eventually taking a 9-7 lead. Following a UIC timeout, two errors and a Miner termination extended UTEP's lead, 12-7. Ndekwe ended the streak with a buried feed from Musante, and James followed suit, 12-9.
• Set Five: The Flames took three of the next four to trail by one 13-12, and a Marija Borcic ace tied it at 13. The two offenses battled, forcing the match into extra points, but two UIC errors ended the tiebreaker on the Miners' side, 18-16.     

Facts & Figures vs. UTEP

• Marija Borcic recorded her second double-double of the season, recording a personal best in both digs (17) and assists (32).
• Paola Santiago also recorded a double-double, her first, with personal bests in kills (13) and digs (16). The freshman's 13 kills were a team high.
• Clara Lamb registered a career-high 11 kills while also aiding in a career-high six blocks on defense.
• Alexandria Hicks, Ali Witt, Tatyana Ndekwe and Kiera James netted nine kills apiece. James finished the match hitting .444 (9k-1e-18a), while Ndekwe was nearly as efficient at .412 (9k-2e-17a).
• The Flames had four players with ten or more digs, led by Carla Salvato's team-high 22. Manuela Conte dug out 15.
• UIC blocked a season-high 12, but UTEP had the slight edge, blocking 13 as a team.
• Ndekwe aided on seven rejections, a personal best, as Witt recorded a season-high five blocks.
• The Flames recorded seven service aces compared to UTEP's two. Borcic, Santiago and Lauren Musante earned credit for UIC, acing two or more each.

Match Highlights vs. Omaha

• Set One: The Flames fell behind 20-14 in the opening frame, but kills from Manuela Conte, Clara Lamb and a Paola Santiago ace gave way to a 5-0 run to put UIC within one, 20-19. The Flames were never able to close the gap completely, dropping set one 25-21.
• Set Two: Locked in a 17-17 tie, two aces from Marija Borcic and a kill from Kiera James put the Flames up by three, 20-17, but the Mavericks responded with three of their own to tie the match again at 20.
• Set Two: Neither team led by more than two from that point, but the Flames were able to outlast the home team for a 26-24 set two victory.
• Set Three: The Flames fought back from a 8-4 early deficit to take a 15-14 lead, but the Mavericks regrouped and reclaimed the lead, 21-19. UIC caught up with Omaha at the 24 point mark, and the two teams battled for the extra-point win, tying at 25 and 26. A Maverick termination and stop at the net put Omaha in the win column again, 28-26.  
• Set Three: UIC caught up with Omaha at the 24-point mark, and the two teams battled for the extra-point win, tying at 25 and 26. A Maverick termination and stop at the net put Omaha in the win column again, 28-26.  
• Set Four: The Mavericks once again sped off to an early lead, 15-8. The home team grew the lead to eight, 20-12, and never looked back. Santiago chipped in a few late kills, but Omaha would take the set, 25-21.

Facts & Figures vs. Omaha

• Paola Santiago registered her second double-double of the day, recording a team-high 11 kills to go with 12 digs.
• Alexandria Hicks had a double-digit kill effort with 10 terminations.
• Kiera James killed eight, while Manuela Conte buried six.
• Conte led the Flames with 15 digs, followed closely by Velina Minkova's 14.
• Marija Borcic added eight digs to 30 assists.
• Ali Witt, Tatyana Ndekwe and Clara Lamb recorded three total blocks each, as the Flames were out blocked 9-6 by the Mavericks.
• Borcic, Santiago and Minkova aced two apiece.

Up Next

• UIC will battle with UMKC in its final match of the Omaha Challenge tomorrow at 1 p.m. CT.