SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – The UIC volleyball team picked up its second five-set victory in as many nights Saturday, outlasting Missouri State, 3-2, in a nearly three hour match.
 
Paola Santiago and Martina Delucchi each eclipsed the 20-kill mark, with Santiago finishing with a season-high 23 while Delucchi added 21. The pair were 2-of-4 Flames to finish with 10 or more kills as Cleo Lorenzo had a season-high 12 and Zahria Woodard added 11.
 
Santiago and Delucchi both had double-doubles for the second match in a row with 17 and 11 digs, respectively, while Jaclyn Oblena became the 24^th player in program history to reach the 1,000-dig mark with 23 digs to match a season high.
 
After dropping a narrow 25-20 opening set, the Flames stormed out to an 8-2 lead in the second set to force a Missouri State timeout. A trio of UIC blocks aided the run, with Jackie Yau getting in on all three stuffs. The Bears slowly climbed back to even the set at 12-all but the Flames weathered the storm to close out the 25-22 victory. Heading into the break, Santiago led all players with 13 kills while the Flames picked up five crucial blocks in the set to even things at 1-all.
 
UIC survived a marathon third set to take a 2-1 lead. The Flames steadily built a lead throughout the third, eventually getting to set point at 24-18. But a furious Missouri State rally evened things up at 24-all. The Flames were forced to battle off a pair of set points but eventually capitalized on their ninth set-point opportunity of the set via a block to collect the 30-28 victory.
 
The Flames found themselves in a hole in the fourth set as the Bears built a sizable 22-14 advantage. Five consecutive points by UIC pulled the Flames within three at 22-19, but the team was pushed to a fifth set after dropping the fourth by a 25-21 margin.
 
In the deciding fifth set, UIC won the race to eight and took an 8-5 lead into the side change. The Flames had match point at 14-12 and again at 15-14, but a solo block by Woodard clinched the 17-15 victory. The block was Woodard's ninth of the night (1 solo, 8 assist) as the Flames owned a 15-9 advantage at the net.
 
UIC returns home next weekend for a pair of matches against Indiana State and Evansville.