CHICAGO -- UIC hits the road for the third consecutive weekend to open the season as the Flames head to Orlando for the UCF Invitational.

FIRST SERVE
• The Flames will open action on Friday against the University of Miami (6:00 CT) before taking on North Carolina Wilmington on Saturday (3:30 CT). The Flames round out action on Sunday with a 4 p.m. contest against the hosts, UCF.
• This weekend will mark the first-ever meeting between the Flames and Hurricanes. UIC and UNC Wilmington have met once in 2013 while the Flames and Central Florida are 1-1 all-time, with the last meeting coming in 2018.

NEW HOME
• It was announced on Jan. 26 that UIC would be officially joining the Missouri Valley Conference for the start of the 2022-23 academic year.
• The Flames were 1-of-3 schools to make the move to the MVC prior to the start of the year as Belmont and Murray State join UIC as newcomers to the conference.
• The addition of the three new schools gives the MVC a 12-team league for the first time in conference history.
• The Flames are 1-of-4 schools from the state of Illinois in the Missouri Valley Conference, joined alongside Bradley, Illinois State and Southern Illinois.

ALL-TOURNAMENT FLAMES
• In their opening tournament of the 2022 season, a pair of Flames were named to the All-Tournament Team of the Huskie Invitational.
• Martina Delucchi was selected to the team after recording 50 kills at a 4.55 kills per set rate, both of which rank third in the Missouri Valley.
• Becca Oldendorf was also named to the team after finishing the weekend with a .440 hitting percentage, the best hitting percentage in the league this past weekend.

RECORD WATCH
• In her final season with the Flames, Paola Santiago is climbing UIC's career kills list.
• The Puerto Rico native is currently ninth all-time with 1,287 career kills.
• Entering the 2022 season, Santiago had 1,226 kills and 1,038 digs, becoming the 10th player in UIC history, and first since 2008, to be part of the 1,000-kill/1,000-dig club.