CHICAGO – The UIC volleyball team (5-5) will contend with fellow city rivals Northwestern, Loyola and DePaul this weekend in the Chicago Cup, hosted by Loyola. The Flames begin with the Wildcats on Friday, Sept. 14 at 4 p.m. CT and finish with Loyola (12 p.m.) and DePaul (5 p.m.) on Saturday, Sept. 15. All matches will be played inside Loyola's Gentile Arena.

City bragging rights are at stake in the first tournament amongst Chicago schools since 2011, and the first time all four (UIC, Northwestern, Loyola and DePaul) will be competing in the same invitational.

LOOKING BACK
The Flames ended the UCF Challenge with a 1-2 showing, sweeping Wofford, but falling to FIU and host UCF. Clara Lamb paced the Flames' offense, averaging 2.70 kills per set to represent the Flames on the All-Tournament Team. The freshman hit .280 in the tournament (27k-6e-75a), and averaged 0.70 blocks per set. Tatyana Ndekwe led the Flames at the net with an average of 1.00 blocks per set, while Velina Minkova led the way in digs, averaging 4.00 scoops per set.

OFFENSIVE FRONT
The Flames are hitting .160 as a squad, led by Paola Santiago's 2.29 kills per set average. Clara Lamb also holds a large offensive presence for the Flames, averaging 2.15 kills per set. Lamb represented the Flames on both the Omaha Challenge and UCF Challenge All-Tournament teams. Ali Witt is the Flames' most efficient attacker, hitting at a clip of .308 this season, good for third-highest in the Horizon League. Tatyana Ndekwe owns an attack percentage of .265 to rank sixth, while Lamb is hitting .237 to come in at tenth.    

BLOCK PARTY
UIC owns a 2.24 blocks per set average, and junior transfer Tatyana Ndekwe leads the block party. Ndekwe owns a 1.17 blocks per set average and ranks fourth amongst Horizon League participants in the category. Ali Witt averages 0.83 blocks per set, followed by Clara Lamb's 0.74 denials per set average.

DOUBLE TROUBLE
Four Flames have posted double-doubles this season: Marija Borcic, Manuela Conte, Lauren Musante and Paola Santiago. Borcic and Santiago lead with four apiece, while Conte and Musante each have one. Santiago double-doubled in all three matches of the Omaha Challenge, versus UTEP (13 kills, 16 digs), at Omaha (11 kills, 12 digs) and versus UMKC (12 kills, 14 digs) as well as this past weekend against Wofford (10 kills, 10 digs). Borcic's double-doubles came against Bryant (25 assists, 13 digs), UTEP (32 assists, 17 digs), Wofford (20 assists, 10 digs) and FIU (17 assists, 12 digs).

ACED IT
Averaging 1.53 service aces per set, UIC stands second amongst Horizon League contenders. Marija Borcic averages 0.42 aces per set to lead the Flames as well as the League, followed by Paola Santiago in a tie for sixth (0.29 per set average) and Manuela Conte in a tie for ninth (0.28 per set average).

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 freshman 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 also seeing a lot of court time, as Ndekwe, Musante, Borcic, Santiago, Lamb and Minkova have made an appearance in every match thus far.  

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 was the Horizon League Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 11, 2017 following a career-high 31-dig performance against Bradley at the CEFCU Classic. Her 31 digs was just the 15th time in program history that a UIC player tallied 30 plus digs in a match.

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 the 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 NORTHWESTERN
Northwestern is 7-2 thus far, following a 2-1 showing at the Arkansas Classic this past weekend. The Wildcats defeated both Buffalo and Butler by a score of 3-1, but were swept 3-0 by host Arkansas. Northwestern is hitting at a clip of .221 as a squad, led by sophomore Nia Robertson averaging 3.88 kills per set. Junior libero Sarah Johnson is the leader in digs with an average of 3.58 digs per set, and sophomore Alana Walker paces the Wildcats in blocks with a 1.18 per set average. Northwestern owns a large advantage all-time, winning 21 of the 23 meetings between the two teams. Friday will serve as the first meeting between the two teams since 2011.

SCOUTING LOYOLA
The Ramblers are on their longest win streak since 2015 at seven games following an undefeated appearance at the Delta Hotel by Marriott Kalamazoo Conference Center Tournament. Loyola has three players averaging above 2.00 kills per set in Quinn Spieker (2.78), Elle Van Grinsven (2.28) and Heather Kocken (2.23) to lead the offensive front. Defensively, the Ramblers rely on senior libero Alex Nunez and her 4.72 digs per set average, as well as Van Grinsven's 0.88 blocks per set average. The Flames are 30-37 all-time against Loyola, but were victorious the last time the two teams met in 2016.  

SCOUTING DEPAUL
DePaul is 2-6 heading into the Chicago Cup after facing three losses in their home invitational. The Blue Demons were swept by both Connecticut and Florida Atlantic, and were handed a 3-1 loss to Purdue Fort Wayne. Sophomore Emma Price is averaging 2.18 kills per set to lead on offense, while sophomore Isabelle Banez paces the defense with 3.43 digs per set. UIC has a 25-18 advantage over DePaul all time, but the Blue Demons came away with the 3-1 win last year when the two teams faced off.

LOOKING AHEAD
The Flames will begin Horizon League action with a match against IUPUI on Friday, Sept. 21.