CHICAGO – After playing its last four matches on the road, the UIC volleyball team (7-1, 7-1 HL) will return home to Chicago and the Flames Athletic Center this week to host conference-foe Oakland (5-3, 5-3 HL) for a pair of matches. The Flames and Golden Grizzlies will meet first on Monday, March 1 at 6 p.m. CT before finishing out the series on Tuesday, March 2 with a rematch at 4 p.m.

LOOKING BACK
UIC earned the series split with Milwaukee this past week (Feb. 22-23) dropping the opener on Monday (Feb. 22), 3-1, before retaliating with a 3-1 win of their own on Tuesday (Feb. 23). In Monday's loss, Paola Santiago nearly turned in a double-double, tallying a team-high 10 kills to go with nine digs. In Tuesday's victory, Santiago turned in a career-high 19 kills to lead UIC once again, while Martina Delucchi turned in her second double-double in a Flames uniform, tallying 11 kills to go with 16 digs.

OFFENSIVE PROWESS
Just over halfway into the spring season, UIC's offense stands at one of the best in the nation, ranking 17th in the nation in kills per set, averaging 14.32 terminations per set as a team. UIC also ranks 23rd in the nation in assists per set, averaging 13.21 helpers per set as a squad, thanks in large part to setter Morgan Kull, who ranks 20th in the nation individually with 11.27 assists per set.
UIC's offense also comes in at 31st in the nation in hitting percentage, hitting at a clip of .265 as a team. Freshman Becca Oldendorf leads the way in that category, hitting .360 individually to rank 75th in the nation.

The 2020-21 Flames have already posted two of the top-10 single-game hitting percentages all-time this season, recording the eighth highest single-game attack percentage in program history on Jan. 25 against Purdue Fort Wayne (.400) and the 10th-highest single game attack percentage on Feb. 9 against Youngstown State (.380).

HORIZON LEAGUE ROUNDUP
UIC's 7-1 record puts them at second in the conference, just one game behind Wright State. The Flames' offense sits at the top of the League, ranking second in hitting percentage (.265), assists (13.21 per set) and kills (14.32 per set). UIC also ranks third in the League in service aces, averaging 1.75 per set, while limiting its opposition to a conference-low 0.71 aces per set.
On the defensive side, UIC ranks second in opponent hitting percentage (.171), third in digs (17.18 per set) and fourth in the League in blocks (2.07 per set).

Individually, Alexandria Hicks's .378 hitting percentage leads the League, while teammate Becca Oldendorf follows closely in second with her .360 hitting percentage. Kull paces the League in assists, dishing out an average of 11.27 helpers per set, and she also comes in at third in the Horizon League in service aces, averaging 0.46 aces per set. In kills, Paola Santiago is the conference's runner-up, averaging 3.75 terminations per set. Santiago also tallies the second-most points in the League, contributing an average of 4.32 points per set.

PAOLA'S POWER
Junior Paola Santiago repeated as Horizon League Player of the Week on Feb. 4, averaging 3.71 kills per set and 2.29 digs per set across UIC's two wins over Robert Morris. The junior also brought in three blocks and a trio of service aces in the two-game series. In Monday's (Feb. 1) 3-1 win, Santiago hauled in her second double-double of the season, leading UIC with 18 kills and 12 digs. On Tuesday (Feb. 2), Santiago contributed eight kills, four digs and a pair of blocks as the Flames silenced the Colonials, 3-0.

Santiago also picked up one of the first Horizon League Volleyball Player of the Week awards of the season on Jan. 28 after a standout performance in UIC's season-opening series against Purdue Fort Wayne. The junior averaged 3.43 kills per set, 3.71 digs per set and 1.00 blocks per set across the two games and recorded her first double-double of the season on Jan. 25 with 15 kills and 10 digs. The junior has paced UIC in kills in six matches so far this season, including both matches against Milwaukee last week.

BACK IN THE LINEUP
Back in the lineup for the Flames this season is junior Michelle Glover, who led the squad with 265 kills and 145 blocks in 2019 to earn a spot on the Horizon League First Team. Also returning for the Flames this season is senior Alexandria Hicks, who averaged 2.20 kills per set and 0.72 blocks per set for the Flames in 2019.
Junior Paola Santiago will also be returning for the Flames after averaging 2.10 kills per set and 2.35 digs per set with five double-doubles in 2019. On the defensive side, junior Velina Minkova is back in the lineup after serving as the Flames' primary libero in 2019 with a team-high 4.03 digs per set.

NEW ADDITIONS
UIC's roster has 13 new additions, 12 of which are true freshman. Mikala Henderson, Taylor O'Malley, Jaclyn Oblena, Martina Delucchi, Sohila Wafeek, Zahria Woodard, Liza Garrido, Becca Oldendorf, Jackie Yau, Abigail Sunga, Amelia Sunga and America Galvan will all be kicking off their collegiate careers with the Flames while senior Morgan Kull joins UIC after three seasons at Auburn.

INTERNATIONAL FLAVOR
The Flames' roster boasts lots of talent from around the world, with five of its players hailing from outside of the United States. Senior Alexandra Drosopoulou is native of Thessaloniki, Greece, while fellow upper classman Velina Minkova hails from Sofia, Bulgaria. Freshmen Martina Delucchi (La Plata) and Liza Garrido (Cordoba) both made their way to Chicago from Argentina, while newcomer Sohila Wafeek calls Cairo, Egypt, home.

LOCAL TALENT
In addition to its international talents, the Flames also have several players on the roster local to Chicago and its surrounding suburbs. Freshman Jackie Yau is a Chicago native, while fellow freshmen Taylor O'Malley (Naperville, Ill.), Zahria Woodard (Oak Park, Ill.), Jaclyn Oblena (Orland Park, Ill.) and Becca Oldendorf (Lockport, Ill.) are all suburban natives. Juniors Michelle Glover (Wheaton, Ill) and Francesca Wagoner (Lisle, Ill.), as well as senior transfer Morgan Kull (St. Charles, Ill.) all hail from the western suburbs.

FAN ATTENDANCE
At this time, UIC will not host fans for home matches at the Flames Athletic Center due to current public health regulations. Flames fans can watch UIC volleyball matches on the ESPN family of networks, as in past years.

SCOUTING THE GOLDEN GRIZZLIES
Oakland is 5-3 so far this season, most recently completing a two-game sweep over Green Bay. The Golden Grizzlies took down the Phoenix by a 3-1 tally on Monday before holding on for a 3-2 win in the finale on Tuesday. Around the Horizon League, Oakland ranks second in digs, averaging 19.43 digs per set as a team. The Oakland defense also limits its opponents to a .183 hitting percentage, good for third-lowest in the conference. Jamie Walling leads the Golden Grizzlies in kills, terminating an average of 3.27 kills per set. Lindsay Wightman paces both Oakland and the Horizon League in digs, averaging 6.63 digs per set. Kerra Cornist puts up the most blocks for the Golden Grizzlies, averaging 1.25 stops per set.