CHICAGO – The UIC volleyball team (11-3) kicks off Horizon League play this weekend at home as it welcomes defending Horizon League Champion Green Bay and Milwaukee to the Flames Athletic Center.

The Flames will start their weekend facing the Phoenix Friday, Sept. 27 at 6 p.m. CT and will wrap up the weekend against the Panthers on Saturday, Sept. 28 at 4 p.m.

PRESEASON WRAPUP
UIC wrapped up its non-conference portion of the schedule with its best showing under head coach Justin Ingram, tallying 11 wins and just three losses. The start is the team's best since 2016, and their three losses is second-fewest around the Horizon League. Of UIC's 11 wins, six of those have come by the way of a 3-0 sweep: California Baptist, Eastern Illinois, Central Michigan, Sacramento State, Loyola and DePaul.

LAST TIME OUT
UIC took two of three matches last weekend at the Chicago Cup, grabbing 3-0 victories to city rivals DePaul and Loyola despite a 3-0 loss to Big Ten-foe Northwestern. Michelle Glover gave a well-rounded performance for the Flames, leading the squad with 3.00 kills per set while also making a big presence at the net with 1.33 blocks per set.

PAOLA'S POWER
Sophomore Paola Santiago has been an anchor for the UIC offense, averaging 2.83 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 2.37 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).

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 2.38 kills per set, while Ndekwe averages 1.38 kills per set, and the pair also makes up two of UIC's most efficient attackers, hitting .289 and .237, respectively. The tandem leads the team in blocks, and Glover's 1.37 blocks per set leads the League and ranks 34th in the nation.   

LET ME ASSIST YOU
UIC's 12.73 assists per set comes in at second in the Horizon League and 37th in the nation, thanks in large part to its 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.

WHERE WE RANK
The Flames are positioned well around the League, ranking in the top three in nearly every statistical category. After putting up big numbers throughout the non-conference slate, UIC leads the conference and ranks 27th in the nation in blocks per set, averaging 2.64 a set and recording more than 20 team blocks than any other team in the League. Offensively, the Flames come in at second in both kills (13.69 per set) and assists (12.73 per set), while their .213 hitting percentage as a squad puts them in third. In digs, UIC ranks third in the conference and 26th in the nation, averaging 16.63 digs per set, and it allows the second fewest service aces in the League, keeping opponents to just 0.90 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 (2.83 per set), Kiera James (2.34 per set), Michelle Glover (2.38 per set), Alexandria Hicks (2.24 per set) and Brookah Palmer (2.68 per set).

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 2.68 kills per set, 1.54 digs per set and she leads the team with 11 service aces this 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).

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
Defending champs Green Bay finished their preseason schedule with an 8-4 mark, most recently dropping two-of-three at the competitive Hyatt Regency Marquette Invitational. 2018 Horizon League Player of the Year Taylor Wolf continues to build off last year's success, leading the conference with an impressive 4.40 kills per set. Green Bay's setter Maddie Yoss leads the League in assists, dishing out an average of 10.16 helpers per set. The Flames are 37-27 all-time against the Phoenix, despite all three of last year's meetings ending in favor of Green Bay.

The Panthers are riding a nine-match win streak after a 4-0 showing at the Jackrabbit Invitational last weekend. Milwaukee's streak is its longest since 2013, and its 13-1 so far ranks at the top of the Horizon League. The Panthers own an efficient offense, which leads the conference in hitting percentage (.254), assists (13.60 per set) and kills (14.44 per set), led by 2.94 kills per set and a .314 attack percentage from freshman Ari Miller. UIC swept all three of last year's matches against the Panthers, improving on a 24-44 record versus Milwaukee all-time.