TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (Oct. 14, 2023) -- The UIC volleyball team (13-9, 4-5 MVC) couldn't push a second consecutive match to five sets in one weekend, as the Flames fell to Indiana State (3-16, 1-8 MVC) 3-1 Saturday night.

The absence of senior Martina Delucchi (La Plata, Argentina/San Cayetano) and sophomore Ayat Amin (Cairo, Egypt/Al Waha International School) due to injury continued to be felt by the Flames, as the team has dropped three of its last four matches against Missouri Valley Conference opponents.

COMMENT FROM UIC HEAD COACH JUSTIN INGRAM
"We are very close to turning a corner regarding our efficiency and overall production.  This Saturday was a challenge for us, and we were not able to play as clean as we needed to against Indiana State.  We made more errors and made them at costly times each set that we had lost."

FIRST SET (25-23, ISU)

• The Flames began the set red-hot as UIC went on an early 5-1 rally behind two kills from freshman Za'Niya Boyles (Columbia, S.C. /Gray Collegiate Academy).
• After the Sycamores went on a 6-2 run, the Flames responded with a 4-1 rally of their own to take a 13-10 lead behind two kills from senior Mikala Henderson (St. Michael, Minn./St. Michael Albertville) and a kill from senior Becca Oldendorf (Lockport, Ill./Lockport Township).
• A solo block and a blocking assist from senior Zahria Woodard (Oak Park, Ill./Oak Park and River Forest) kept the match tied at 20-20.
• Two kills from Gabi Peter (Gilbert, Ill./Hampshire) kept the match tied at 23-23, before two consecutive points from Indiana State earned the Sycamores the set one victory.

SECOND SET (25-15, UIC)

• The Flames went on 9-0 rally early in the second set to take an early 10-2 lead over the Sycamores. The rally was highlighted behind kills from Woodard, freshman Tamara Kisic (Belgrade, Serbia) and senior Sohila Wafeek (Cairo, Egypt/Al Gomhorya Language School). Woodard and Wafeek collected a pair of blocking assists during the rally.
• Sophomore Cleo Lorenzo (Belo Horizonte, Brazil) earned UIC's first ace of the match during the rally as well.
• Woodard's third kill of the set kept the Flames' lead intact at 23-11.
• The Flames evened up the match behind Henderson's ninth kill of the match to earn the set victory.

THIRD SET (25-20, ISU)

• UIC tallied the first three points in the set behind a kill from Lorenzo, a blocking assist from Lorenzo and Woodard and an ace from Oldendorf.
• After the Sycamores went on a 6-0 rally, their momentum was thwarted behind Peter's fourth kill of the match. UIC found themselves trailing 11-8 midway in the set. 
• Henderson earned her team-leading 11^th kill of the match, to bring UIC within four (23-19).
• Three points later, Indiana State earned the set victory.

FOURTH SET (25-21, ISU)

• Tied at 3-3, the Flames went on an 8-2 run highlighted by kills from Henderson, Boyles, Lorenzo, and Oldendorf to jump out to an 11-5 lead.
• Down 14-13, Woodard earned her fifth blocking assist of the match alongside Peter to tie the set at 14.
• A 7-3 rally midway through the set from the Sycamores was later stopped by one of Lorenzo's eight kills in the set to keep UIC within one, as the Flames trailed 17-16.
• Woodard's ninth and final kill of the match gave UIC its 20^th point of the set, as the Flames trailed 22-20. The Sycamores fended off the Flames a few points later to earn the match victory.

BY THE NUMBERS

• Henderson stepped up in the attack for UIC this weekend, hitting 35 kills over UIC's road trip to Indiana. She has the seventh-most kills for the Flames this season and has been a key piece for UIC since returning from injury two weeks ago.
• After having a hitting percentage of .500 yesterday against Evansville, Oldendorf finished with .471 hitting percentage against the Sycamores. She continues to lead the MVC in this category, with a hitting percentage of .439.
• Wafeek finished the weekend with 91 assists and tallied 32 assists against the Sycamores. She has a career-total of 2,826 assists in her UIC career.
• With 360 career blocks, Woodard ranks fifth on the program's career blocks list.

UP NEXT FOR THE FLAMES
The Flames continue their four-match road trip next week, traveling to Springfield, Mo. to take on Missouri State (9-12, 3-6 MVC) Friday at 4 p.m. The match against the Bears will be available to stream on ESPN+. On Saturday the Flames will face Southern Illinois (12-8, 4-5 MVC) in Carbondale, Ill. with the first serve scheduled for 5 p.m. Live stats will be available for both matches at UICFlames.com.
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