MILWAUKEE – The fourth-seeded UIC volleyball team erased a 2-1 deficit to come from behind and defeat No. 5 Green Bay, 3-2, Friday evening in the quarterfinals of the Horizon League Volleyball Championship.
 
With the win, the Flames advance to Saturday's semifinals where they will take on top-seeded Milwaukee.
 
Paola Santiago set a new career high with 27 kills, topping her previous best of 26 which she set earlier this year. The outside hitter added 12 digs for her seventh consecutive double-double. Santiago was one of three Flames to register a double-double in the victory over Green Bay as Martina Delucchi and Sohila Wafeek also finished with double-doubles. Delucchi finished with 18 digs and a game-high 24 digs while Wafeek dished out 52 assists to go along with 17 digs.
 
As a team, the Flames recorded a season-high 15 blocks. Becca Oldendorf assisted on 10 blocks alone while Salma Abdelhady finished with two solo blocks and seven block assists.
 
After picking up a 25-19 victory in the opening set, UIC dropped the next two sets by 25-22 and 25-20 margins to fall behind by a 2-1 score entering the fourth set. The Flames saved their best volleyball for the final two sets to complete the comeback. UIC, whose offense had been held in check up to that point, hit at a .308 hitting percentage in the fourth set to secure the 25-21 victory and force a decisive fifth set.
 
UIC score the first point of the fifth set and never looked back, jumping out to a 7-3 lead before closing out the 15-7 victory, In the fifth and final set, the Flames connected on a .375 hitting percentage while limiting the Phoenix to just six kills and six errors for a .000 percentage.
 
UIC's semifinal match against the Panthers is scheduled for a 5 p.m. first serve on Saturday, Nov. 20. The second semifinal will follow at 8 p.m. featuring No. 2 Northern Kentucky against No. 3 Wright State.

The #HLVB quarterfinal highlights are here as @WSUVball and @UIC_Volleyball advanced to the semifinals with victories on Friday! pic.twitter.com/HbF2Aoe4Op

— Horizon League (@HorizonLeague) November 20, 2021

News and Notes

• After the first three sets featured 23 ties and six lead changes, UIC led for the entire fourth and fifth sets.
• Santiago's 27 kills are tied for the third-most by any Horizon League player this year and are the most by a Flames player this season.
• Oldendorf's 10 blocks are tied for the third-most by a Horizon League player this year.
• UIC's defense dominated the night, collecting 95 digs to Green Bay's 76