CHICAGO – The UIC volleyball team closed out the home portion of its 2021 season with a 3-0 sweep over Cleveland State Sunday (Oct. 7) afternoon inside the Flames Athletic Center.
 
Following the match, UIC honored its lone senior, Morgan Kull, who has been with the program for the past two seasons after transferring to UIC from Auburn prior to the 2020-21 year.
 
Martina Delucchi had a match-high 15 kills while Paola Santiago recorded her fourth-straight double-double with 13 kills and 13 digs. Sohila Wafeek dished out a match-high 37 assists while Jaclyn Oblena shared the team lead with 13 digs to pace the defensive efforts.
 
After a closely contest first two sets that both went the way of the Flames, UIC stormed out to a big lead in the third set and fended off a late Viking rally to secure the sweep. With the win, UIC improved to an impressive 9-1 at home this season.
 
The Flames close out the regular season next weekend with matches at Youngstown State and Robert Morris on Nov. 11 and 12, respectively.
 
How It Happened – First Set

• Cleveland State jumped out to a 12-6 lead in the opening set, forcing head coach Justin Ingram to call a timeout.
• An eventual 7-1 run gave UIC a slim one-point lead at 16-15, causing the visitors to burn a timeout. Back-to-back kills by Zahria Woodard and Martina Delucchi capped the run as UIC climbed back into the set.
• The two teams battled back and forth and the Flames had set point at 24-23, but a kill by Peyton Bloomer tied things up at 24-all. Delucchi connected from the outside for one of her eight first-set kills to give UIC set point and then Mikala Henderson served up one of the three UIC aces Sunday to cap the 26-24 victory.

 
How It Happened – Second Set

• Cleveland State led for most of the second set before the Flames rallied back to steal the second set late.
• Trailing by a 23-18 margin, Santiago recorded a kill before teaming up with Jackie Yau for a block to pull within three, forcing a Viking timeout.
• The timeout did little to stop the UIC momentum as the Flames would score the next five points to steal the set. An ace from Wafeek and a kill by Santiago, aided by a trio of Cleveland State errors, gave UIC the 7-0 run to end the set and go up 2-0 in the match.

 
How It Happened – Third Set

• Another Woodard kill put UIC in front by a commanding 10-3 margin in the third set.
• Cleveland State continued to fight, eventually pulling within one at 22-21 to force a UIC timeout.
• UIC righted the momentum, scoring three of the next four points to secure the 25-22 victory. All three of UIC's points came via Santiago kills.

 
News and Notes

• Santiago recorded her team-leading 12^th double-double of the year Sunday afternoon.
• UIC controlled the net, owning a 7-4 advantage in blocks. Yau led the way with four blocks, one solo and three assist, while Santiago and Woodard assisted on a trio of blocks each.
• UIC has now won seven of its last eight matches.