CHICAGO – The UIC volleyball team (7-6) begins Horizon League play this weekend on the road against IUPUI and Wright State. The Flames will battle the Jags on Friday, Sept. 21 at 5 p.m. CT and will wrap up the weekend with Wright State on Saturday, Sept. 22 at 3 p.m.

LOOKING BACK
The Flames enter conference action on a high note after a 2-1 showing at the Chicago Cup last weekend. UIC took down Loyola 3-1 and swept DePaul on Saturday (Sept. 15) to bounce back from a 3-0 loss to Northwestern on Friday (Sept. 14).

Clara Lamb led the offense with an average of 2.70 kills per set, while Manuela Conte (2.50 per set), Kiera James (2.30 per set) and Tatyana Ndekwe (2.11 per set) all averaged above two kills per set in the tournament. Lamb and Conte represented the Flames on the All-Tournament Team.

Velina Minkova owned an average of 4.00 digs per set to lead the Flames, and Lamb carried the largest presence at the net with 12 total blocks and a 1.20 per set average. Conte also carried a large defensive load, averaging 2.40 digs per set. Marija Borcic averaged 5.60 assists per frame and also contributed on defense with a 2.20 digs per set average.

OFFENSIVE FRONT
The Flames are hitting .169 as a squad, with three players averaging over 2.00 kills per set in Clara Lamb (2.27), Paola Santiago (2.16) and Kiera James (2.05). Ali Witt is the Flames' most efficient attacker, hitting at a clip of .300 this season to lead the Horizon League. Tatyana Ndekwe owns an attack percentage of .281 to rank third, while Lamb is hitting .249 to come in at sixth.   
 
BLOCK PARTY
UIC owns a 2.34 blocks per set average, compared to 2.15 blocks per set averaged by their opponents. Junior transfer Tatyana Ndekwe leads the block party, owning a 1.09 blocks per set average to rank third amongst Horizon League participants in the category. Ali Witt averages 0.87 blocks per set, followed by Clara Lamb's 0.84 denials per set average. The Flames enter Horizon League play with the second-highest blocks per set average in the conference.

DOUBLE TROUBLE
Four Flames have posted double-doubles this season: Marija Borcic, Manuela Conte, Lauren Musante and Paola Santiago. Borcic leads the squad with five, followed by Santiago with four. Conte has two double-doubles after leading the Flames in both kills (13) and digs (15) against Loyola on Saturday, while Musante's lone double-double came against UMKC (27 assists, 15 digs). 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 against Wofford (10 kills, 10 digs) as part of the UCF Challenge. Borcic's double-doubles came against Bryant (25 assists, 13 digs), UTEP (32 assists, 17 digs), Wofford (20 assists, 10 digs), FIU (17 assists, 12 digs) and DePaul (16 assists, 10 digs).

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 100 kills (2.27 per set) to lead the Flames offense, and is hitting at a clip of .249 (100k-32e-273a) to rank sixth amongst conference contenders entering the first week of Horizon League play. Defensively, Lamb has accumulated 37 total blocks for a 0.84 per set average, second highest on the Flames' roster. 

ACED IT
UIC leads the Horizon League and ranks 21st in the nation in service aces, averaging 1.76 per set. Manuela Conte averages 0.46 aces per set to rank 47th in the nation and lead the Flames as well as the League, after posting a career-high five aces on Saturday against DePaul. Marija Borcic follows closely in second behind Conte with a 0.43 aces per set average, while Lauren Musante averages 0.28 aces per set to come in a tie for eighth in the 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 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, 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 IUPUI
IUPUI finished their non-conference slate with a 3-11 record after finishing the BGSU Invitational with a 1-2 record this past weekend. The Jags defeated Nicholls State 3-1 in their opener before falling 3-0 to host Bowling Green and 3-1 to Marshall. Senior Maggie Gibson does it all for the Jags, averaging 2.98 kills per set, 3.51 assists per set and 3.23 digs per set, while also contributing 20 blocks this season. Senior Elizabeth Scott averages 2.82 kills for the offense, while freshman Rachel Hickey paces the defense with a 4.29 digs per set average. 

SCOUTING WRIGHT STATE
The Raiders are 8-4 heading into Horizon League action, coming off a 2-1 showing at Valparaiso's Crusader Classic. Wright State swept Western Illinois 3-0 and outlasted Cornell 3-2, but was unable to come up with a win against the hosts, 3-1. Sophomores Celia Powers (2.57 kills per set) and Teddie Sauer (2.43 kills per set) see the most action on offense, while Freshman Jenna Story paces the Raider defense with a 4.00 digs per set average. Powers and senior Alannah Lemming provide the most blocks for Wright State, averaging 1.09 and 1.02 blocks per set, respectively.

LOOKING AHEAD
The Flames will face Milwaukee on the road on Friday, Sept. 28 before finally returning home to finish the weekend against Green Bay on Sunday, Sept. 30.