CHICAGO – The UIC volleyball team (9-2) will make the short trip to the Lincoln Park neighborhood and the campus of DePaul this weekend for the Chicago Cup. The Flames have an action-packed weekend of Chicago rivalries, as they face host DePaul, Northwestern and Loyola.

UIC will matchup with the Blue Demons on Friday, Sept. 20 at 7 p.m. CT before wrapping up the tournament on Saturday, Sept. 21 with a 10 a.m. match against the Wildcats and a 5:30 p.m. match versus the Ramblers.

HOT START
UIC is off to its best start under head coach Justin Ingram, posting a 9-2 record through its first 11 contests. The week of city rivalries began for the Flames on Tuesday, as they posted a 3-1 win at home against Chicago State. UIC fought back after dropping set one to take the next three sets behind 15 total blocks, a season high for the team.

PAOLA'S POWER
Sophomore Paola Santiago has been an anchor for the UIC offense, averaging 2.81 kills per set to lead the squad. On Tuesday against Chicago State, Santiago brought in her second double-double of the season, tallying 14 kills and 13 digs. 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. Against NDSU (Sept. 6), 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 against Eastern Illinois (Sept. 6), recording 11 kills. In UIC's final match of the weekend against host Central Michigan (Sept. 7), Santiago brought in seven kills and eight digs, in route to the team's second sweep of the weekend.

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 2.26 kills per set, while Ndekwe averages 1.30 kills per set, and the pair makes up two of UIC's most efficient attackers, hitting .268 and .209, respectively. The duo also helps lead the Flames in blocks, as Glover stops an average of 1.37 per set, followed by Ndekwe's 0.93 per set. Both Glover and Ndekwe tallied season highs in Tuesday's match with the Cougars, as Glover posted nine total blocks and Ndekwe recorded six.

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 (2.81 per set), Kiera James (2.51 per set), Michelle Glover (2.26 per set), Alexandria Hicks (2.25 per set) and Brookah Palmer (3.07 pet set). Together UIC's offense is averaging 13.77 kills per set and is hitting at a clip of .219 this season.

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. As a Flame, Palmer is averaging 3.07 kills per set, 1.68 digs per set and is tied for second on the squad with seven service aces on the season.

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
Host DePaul is off to an 8-1 start this season, taking all three matches last weekend at its own DePaul Invitational. The Blue Demons captured a pair of 3-1 wins over Central Michigan and Holy Cross before wrapping up the weekend with a sweep of Valparaiso. Brittany Maxwell averages 3.95 kills per set to pace the offense, while Isabelle Banez gets the job done on defense, averaging 5.64 digs per set.

Northwestern owns a 7-2 record after a 2-1 showing last Friday and Saturday at the Blue Devil Classic. The Wildcats opened the tournament with a tough 3-0 loss to Georgia, but were able to pull off a 3-0 sweep of Duke and a 3-1 win over American.

Loyola is 5-5 through their first 10 matches, picking up 3-0 sweeps over UC Irvine and Air Force last weekend after taking a 3-1 loss to Virginia Tech at the Amy Svoboda Memorial Classic. Taylor Venuto is averaging 3.11 kills per set and hitting at a clip of .362 this season to lead the way on offense. The Ramblers look to Maddy Moser on defense, averaging 5.41 digs per set.