CHICAGO – The UIC volleyball team (12-6, 1-3 HL) faces a split weekend at home and on the road, hosting Wright State (15-1, 4-0 HL) on Friday, Oct. 11 at 6 p.m. CT before hitting the road to battle with Cleveland State (5-10, 1-3 HL) on Sunday, Oct. 13 at 1 p.m.

LAST TIME OUT
UIC picked up its first Horizon League win of the season on Friday (Oct. 4) with a 3-0 sweep of Youngstown State. Emily Kelly led all attackers in the match with a career-high 14 kills and the Flames had their most efficient offensive performance since Sept. 14, hitting .250 (45k-16e-116a) as a squad. UIC then moved on to Oakland on Saturday (Oct. 5), where it fell 3-0 to a Golden Grizzlies squad that hit .361 on the day, a season high for UIC opponents.

STRONG IN THE MIDDLE
UIC's primary middle blockers, Michelle Glover and Tatyana Ndekwe, have given the Flames great strength up at the net both offensively and defensively. Glover is averaging 2.37 kills per set, while Ndekwe averages 1.36 kills per set, and the pair also makes up two of UIC's most efficient attackers, hitting .297 and .218, respectively.

Glover leads the Horizon League and ranks ninth in the nation in total blocks, racking up 87 stops this season, 13 more than any other player around the League. Her 1.32 blocks per set puts her at the top of the conference and ranks 30th nationwide.

MONSTER BLOCK
The Flames have put up a huge presence at the net this season, tallying 170 total blocks as a squad to rank eighth in the nation. UIC averages 2.58 blocks per set as a team, a mark which stands at second in the Horizon League and 32nd in the nation. The Flames' big hands have stopped ten or more on ten occasions, with three of those occasions coming in at 14 or more. 

PAOLA'S POWER
Sophomore Paola Santiago has been an anchor for the UIC offense, averaging 2.47 kills per set to lead the squad. The sophomore earned the title of Most Valuable Player at the Chippewa Invitational after averaging 3.09 kills per set, 1.91 digs per set and recording four service aces in the tournament. Santiago also makes a statement for the defense, averaging 2.33 digs per set, good for second most on the team. The San Juan, Puerto Rico native owns two double-doubles on the season, one at Idaho (17 kills, 22 digs) and another versus Chicago State (14 kills, 13 digs).

LET ME ASSIST YOU
UIC's 12.45 assists per set comes in at third in the Horizon League and 48th in the nation, thanks in large part to setters Marija Borcic and Lauren Musante. Both Borcic and Musante rank in the conference's top ten in assists, coming in at fifth and seventh, respectively. Both setters also contribute on the defensive end as well, as Borcic averages 2.13 digs per set and Musante averages 2.04 per set. The tandem leads the squad in double-doubles with Musante owning four double-doubles this season compared to Borcic's three.

WHERE WE RANK
UIC's offense is averaging 13.48 kills per set, a mark which ranks third in the Horizon League. As a squad, the Flames are hitting .202, putting them at fifth in the conference. Defensively, UIC leads the League in total blocks, amassing 170 as a squad to rank eighth in the nation, while it also ranks sixth in the conference in digs with an average of 16.32 per set.

BALANCED ATTACK
UIC's offense utilizes a balanced attack to spread the ball around to several strong attackers. The Flames have five players averaging at least two kills per set in Paola Santiago (2.47 per set), Kiera James (2.27 per set), Michelle Glover (2.36 per set), Alexandria Hicks (2.21 per set) and Brookah Palmer (2.51 per set). Together they make up 78 percent of UIC's kills, as each attacker owns over 100 successful attacks on the season.

NEW TO THE SQUAD
The Flames brought on board only one newcomer for the 2019 season, Texas A&M transfer Brookah Palmer. Last season with the Aggies, Palmer appeared in 29-of-30 matches, hitting .181 on the season and averaging 1.70 kills, 1.86 digs and 2.09 points per set. Prior to her time in College Station, Palmer spent a season with the University of Houston, where she led the American Athletic Conference and ranked 40th in the nation with 4.15 kills per set. Palmer also led the AAC in both total points (582) and points per set (4.77) in 2015, earning All-American Athletic Conference First Team honors as well as AVCA All-Southeast Region Honorable Mention. As a Flame, Palmer is averaging 2.51 kills per set, 1.39 digs per set and she owns the second-most service aces on the squad with 12.

FRESH FACES ON STAFF
UIC welcomed a pair of new assistants to its staff for the 2019 season, adding Lauren Van Orden on staff in March and Katie Weidner in June. Van Orden joins the Flames after spending four years (2014-17) as an assistant with city-foe Loyola, guiding the Ramblers to a 20-win season back in 2015. Van Orden boasts an incredibly successful collegiate career that started with two years at San Diego State and capped off with a 2011 national championship in her senior season at UCLA. During her two years as a Bruin, Van Orden led the team to a 52-15 record, making 61 starts as the team's setter and captain.

Weidner came to Chicago following stints with the Israel Ministry of Culture and Sport as well as the Israel Volleyball Federation. As a player, Weidner started her collegiate career at New Hampshire University, earning a spot on the 2003 America East All-Rookie Team before transferring to Marquette University. With the Golden Eagles, Weidner was a two-time Academic All-Big East Team honoree (2006-07) ranking seventh in career assists (2,308) and second in single-match assists (85).

WELCOME BACK
UIC returns 14 of its 17 members from the 2018 squad, including Horizon League Freshman of the Year Kiera James and fellow All-League First Team and All-Freshman Team-member Paola Santiago, who both made a splash in their first seasons as Flames. Also back in the lineup is redshirt junior Manuela Conte, after finishing last year with the second most digs in UIC's single-season history (516) and ranking second in the Horizon League in service aces (0.35 per set).

FLAMES FROM AROUND THE WORLD
UIC's roster boasts four international players, more than any of their Horizon League counterparts. Junior Alexandra Drosopoulou hails from Thessaloniki, Greece, sophomore setter Marija Borcic calls Uzice Serbia home, redshirt junior Manuela Conte is from Bologna, Italy, while sophomore Velina Minkova is native to Sofia, Bulgaria.

SCOUTING THE COMPETITION
Wright State is riding the nation's longest standing winning streak at 16 games, defeating every opponent since their season opener on Aug. 30 against Bowling Green. The Raiders run a formidable defense that leads the nation as well as the Horizon League with 19.95 digs per set, containing opponents to just .131 on the attack. Libero Jenna Story is the nation's runner-up in digs per set, averaging 6.35 digs per set to lead Wright State's defense.

Cleveland State owns a 1-4 mark in Horizon League play so far after falling 3-1 to Wright State on Wednesday night. Cleveland State is runner-up to the Raiders in digs around the League, averaging 17.65 per set. Offensively the Vikings come in at seventh in the conference in hitting percentage (.181), assists per set (11.70) and kills (12.24 per set). Trinniti Hall leads the offensive efforts with 3.38 kills per set, aided by a 9.89 assists per set from setter Christina Grecol. Lindsey Tout leads the defense with 4.56 digs per set, putting her at fifth in the conference.