CHICAGO – The UIC volleyball team (6-1) will return home to Chicago this weekend to host its own UIC Invitational. The Flames will be welcoming Bradley (2-4), Murray State (2-4) and Sacramento State (3-4) to the Flames Athletic Center for a total of six matches, split between Friday and Saturday.

UIC will first face the Braves on Friday, Sept. 13 at 7 p.m. CT before tackling Murray State and Sacramento State on Saturday, Sept. 14 at noon and 7 p.m., respectively.

HOT START
UIC continued its strong start on the season with a 2-1 showing at the Chippewa Invitational last weekend. The Flames opened the tournament with a 3-2 heartbreaker against NDSU before collecting a pair of sweeps against Eastern Illinois and host Central Michigan. The Flames' 6-1 start is their best under third-year head coach Justin Ingram.

PAOLA'S POWER
Sophomore Paola Santiago has been an anchor for the UIC offense, averaging 2.93 kills per set to lead the squad. The sophomore was named Most Valuable Player at the Chippewa Invitational last weekend after averaging 3.09 kills per set, 1.91 digs per set and recorded four service aces. On Friday against NDSU, Santiago tallied 16 kills and was one dig shy of a double-double with nine. The sophomore went on to lead all attackers in UIC's 3-0 win later on Friday against Eastern Illinois, recording 11 kills. On Saturday against host Central Michigan, Santiago brought in seven kills and eight digs, in route to UIC's second sweep of the weekend.

NEW TO THE SQUAD
The Flames welcomed 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. In her first weekend as a Flame, Palmer averaged 3.72 kills per set and recorded her first double-double of the season with 23 kills and 10 digs in the finale against Idaho. The redshirt senior turned in another impressive showing on Saturday at Central Michigan, leading all attackers with 11 kills while also turning in four service aces.

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). Sophomores Marija Borcic and Lauren Musante both return in the setter position, tallying 999 assists and 330 assists in 2018, respectively.

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
Bradley owns a 2-4 record on the season after picking up a pair of wins last weekend at their own CEFCU Invitational. The Braves opened with a sweep over Belmont and grabbed a 3-1 win over Horizon League-member Oakland before taking a 3-1 loss in the finale to DePaul. Hannah Thompson collected a double-double in all three of Bradley's matches to earn a spot on the All-Tournament team. She was joined on the All-Tournament Team by teammate Maggie Revell, who hit .381 on the weekend and collected 2.00 kills per set. The Flames are 16-11 all-time vs. the Braves, winning the last six meetings consecutively.

Murray State also has a 2-4 record after picking up a pair of wins last weekend, defeating Chattanooga (3-1) and Jacksonville (3-2) before taking a 3-0 loss to Troy at the Troy Invitational. Becca Fernandez and Rachel Holthaus represented the Racers on the All-Tournament Team. Holthaus averaged 2.50 kills per set for MSU's offense, while Fernandez averaged 4.67 digs per set for the defense. UIC is 2-1 against the Racers, last defeating MSU 3-0 back in 2017 at the CEFCU Classic.

Sacramento State is 3-4 through the first two weeks of the season after a 2-1 record at the Rainbow Wahine Invitational. The Hornets took a pair of 3-0 losses against the talented squads of Denver and No. 20 Hawaii before finishing out the weekend with a 3-2 win over Army. Sarah Davis averages 3.33 kills per set to lead the Hornets' attackers, while Paige Swinney gets it done on defense, averaging 4.93 digs per set. Saturday's matchup will be the first between the two teams in 17 years and just the second overall, as the Flames grabbed a 3-0 win over the Hornets back in 2002.