CHICAGO (Oct. 19, 2023) – The UIC volleyball team (13-9, 4-5 MVC) returns to the road this weekend to conclude its four-match road trip, facing off against Missouri State (9-12, 3-6 MVC) Friday at 4 p.m. in Springfield, Mo. and Southern Illinois (12-8, 4-5 MVC) Saturday at 5 p.m. in Carbondale, Ill.

SCOUTING MISSOURI STATE

• During the opening weekend of Missouri Valley Conference play, the Flames secured their first conference win of the season on Sept. 23 in a 3-0 match sweep against the Bears. Sophomore Cleo Lorenzo (Belo Horizonte, Brazil/Elite) collected 11 kills and senior Martina Delucchi (La Plata, Argentina/San Cayetano) tallied 10 kills in the match. They each had three aces a piece in the victory.
• The Flames have a chance to even out the series, winning the last two meetings with the Bears. UIC holds a 3-2 overall record in the series heading into the impending sixth meeting Friday at the Hammons Student Center.
• The Bears aim to bounce back into the win column, having dropped their last three matches in a row. They have wins against Belmont (11-12, 5-4 MVC), Evansville (8-12, 3-6 MVC) and Indiana State (3-16, 1-8 MVC) this season.
• The Bears are the third-best team at receiving the attack in The Valley, averaging 16.72 digs per set. They also collected the third-most aces in the conference (120).
• Three members of the Bears are in the top 30 in the conference for kills this: freshman Breanah Rives (204 kills,15^th), juniors Maddy Bushnell (203 kills, 16^th) and Deja Bickers (167 kills, 25^th).

SCOUTING SOUTHERN ILLINOIS

• The Flames aim to write a different narrative against the Salukis, who managed to get a 3-1 victory over UIC at home on Sept. 22 to open conference play. Delucchi led the attack with 21 kills in the match and earned a career-high six aces. Lorenzo also contributed 14 kills in the match.
• This will be the 11^th match-up between the programs, with Southern Illinois maintaining an 8-2 lead in the overall series.
• The Salukis rank fifth in the MVC in points per set (16.37), hitting percentage (.222), kills (12.96) and assists per set (12.32).
• Southern Illinois also averages 1.61 aces per set, ranked second in The Valley.
• Senior Imani Hartfield remains one of the most accurate hitters in the MVC. She has the third-best hitting percentage (.374) in the conference.
• Senior Natly Garcia (0.47) and freshman Ema Stermenska (0.45) lead the MVC in aces per set. Garcia also has the seventh-most kills this season at 253, averaging 3.47 kills per set.

BY THE NUMBERS

• Senior outside hitter Mikala Henderson (St. Michael, Min./St. Michael Albertville) collected 35 kills last weekend to lead UIC's attack. She averaged 3.89 kills per set.
• Becca Oldendorf (Lockport, Ill./Lockport Township) continues to remain the most accurate attacker in the Missouri Valley Conference with a .439 hitting percentage. The senior middle blocker has also collected an ace in each of the last nine matches for the Flames.
• Senior Zahria Woodard (Oak Park, Ill./Oak Park and River Forest) tallied 10 blocks last week and has 111 blocks in the season. She ranks fifth on the program's career blocks list with 360.

NEED TO KNOW

• The match against Missouri State will be available to stream on ESPN+.
• Live stats will be available for both matches at UICFlames.com.
• For more information, fans are encouraged to visit UICFlames.com, or follow the Flames on social media through X (@UIC_Volleyball and @UICFlames) and Instagram (@uic_volleyball and @uicflames).