INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The UIC volleyball team opened the 2021 season Friday afternoon with a pair of matches at the Top Dawg Challenge, hosted by Butler. The Flames picked up their first victory of the year with a 3-1 decision over Bowling Green before falling to Indiana by a 3-0 final in the second match of the game.
 
Paola Santiago and Martina Delucchi both recorded double-doubles in the victory over Bowling Green while Mikala Henderson led UIC's offense with a career-high 14 kills against the Falcons.
 
UIC closes out its first tournament of the year Saturday morning with a 9 a.m. (CT) match against the tournament hosts, Butler.
 
UIC 3 – Bowling Green 1
Set One

• In a back and forth first set, UIC needed extra points and prevailed with a 26-24 victory.
• Trailing 6-3 in early in the frame, the Flames used an 8-1 run to take an 11-7 lead and forcing a Bowling Green timeout. Four kills, a block, two Bowling green errors and an ace by Morgan Kull pushed the Flames in front.
• The two teams would trade points, with Bowling Green eventually taking a 23-21 lead. UIC won the next two to even the score at 23-all but a service error gave the Falcons set point. The Flames rallied off three straight points behind a Santiago kill and back-to-back blocks by the UIC front line.

 
Set Two

• UIC quickly fell into a 4-0 hole before Henderson ended the run with a kill. The Flames responded with a 4-1 spurt of their own to even things up at 6-all.
• Tied at 15, the Flames began to pull away, scoring two consecutive points to force a Bowling Green timeout. UIC built the lead to five at 23-18 and after the Falcons tried to cut the deficit down, back-to-back points, highlighted by a Henderson kill, gave the Flames a 2-0 lead.
• UIC had its highest hitting percentage in the second set, hitting at .297 clip.

 
Set Three

• The Flames played from behind most of the third set, taking its first lead at 9-8 after going on a 5-0 run. UIC's lead was short-lived as Bowling Green responded with 7-1 run and kept the Flames at distance.
• UIC pulled within a point at 21-20, but the Falcons took four of the final five points to stay alive in the match.

 
Set Four

• After Bowling Green took the first point of the fourth set, UIC won three straight points and led for the remainder of the set.
• A 5-1 scoring advantage for the Flames gave UIC its biggest lead of the match at 22-17, but a run of four consecutive points by BG pulled the lead back down to one.
• Leading by a slim 24-23 margin, the Flames ended the match with a Henderson kill.

 
Facts and Figures

• Three players finished with 10+ kills, led by Henderson (14), Martina Delucchi (11) and Santiago (10).
• Santiago and Delucchi picked up UIC's first double-double of the year with 17 and 12 digs, respectively.
• UIC service game was on point all morning, dishing up 10 aces while limiting Bowling Green to five.
• The Flames also owned a 9-6 advantage at the net in blocks.

 
UIC 0 – Indiana 3
Set One

• UIC battled the Hoosiers to extra points in the opening set, eventually falling in the closing moments.
• A Becca Oldendorf kill opened the match and gave the Flames a lead that they would hold until Indiana gained its first lead at 13-12.
• The Hoosier lead grew to 17-12 and Indiana had set point at 24-20, but four straight points by UIC evened things at 24-all. Indiana used a kill and a block to take the set and a 1-0 lead.

 
Set Two

• Indiana won the opening point and never looked back, never trailing during the set en route to a 2-0 lead in the match.
• UIC made a run to tie things up at 8-all after a kill by Delucchi and an ace from Jaclyn Oblena kick-started a 4-1 run.
• The Hoosiers regained the lead and claimed the set by a 25-17 margin.

 
Set Three

• Indiana stormed out to a 9-2 lead, forcing a UIC timeout as the Flames looked to climb back in the set.
• Another run by the Hoosiers, this time an 8-0 run, put Indiana ahead 23-10 and in line for the 25-12 victory.

 
Facts and Figures

• Santiago recorded her second consecutive game with 10 kills to lead the offensive attack.
• Delucchi added 12 digs for back-to-back double-digit dig performances.
• Indiana owned a .281 hitting percentage while limiting the Flames to a .059 effort on the afternoon.