CHICAGO -- UIC opens its inaugural season of MVC play this weekend as the Flames play host to a trio of opponents.

FIRST SERVE
• The Flames will begin the busy weekend with back-to-back matches against Drake and Northern Iowa on Friday and Saturday, respectively. Following an off day, UIC returns to the Flames Athletic Center on Monday evening to play host to Valparaiso. Friday's match will be streamed on ESPN3 while Monday's match can be viewed on ESPN+.
• Martina Delucchi picked up the first MVC weekly award in program history this past week as the outside hitter was named the Missouri Valley Player of the Week on Sept. 12.

IN-STATE WINS
• The Flames concluded MVC play in style, winning 2-of-3 matches at the annual Chicago Cup.
• Making its home debut, UIC opened the weekend with a 3-0 sweep of Loyola before rounding out the weekend with a 3-1 victory over DePaul.

DELUCCHI COLLECTS MVC HONORS
• Outside hitter Martina Delucchi picked up the first MVC weekly honor in program history on Sept. 12 when she was named the conference Player of the Week.
• Delucchi was instrumental in UIC's upset win over Miami, as the junior nearly tallied a double-double with a match-high 19 kills to go along with nine digs and three aces. The native of La Plata, Argentina followed with her team-leading third double-double of the season against UNC Wilmington, finishing with a match-high 18 kills to go along with 17 digs in a five-set battle, before rounding out the weekend with a team-best 13 kills against UCF.
• Following the weekend of competition, Delucchi leads all MVC players with 4.11 kills per set while her 144 total kills are second-most in the conference.

IT'S ALL ABOUT THE U(IC)
• The Flames picked up a big win at the UCF Invitational, upsetting Miami, 3-1, in the opening round of competition.
• The Hurricanes entered the weekend as the first team outside the Top-25 in the latest AVCA national rankings.
• The win marked UIC's first win against a Power 5 opponent since defeating Indiana, 3-2, on Sept. 12, 2014.