CHICAGO (Oct. 26, 2023) – The UIC volleyball team (14-10, 5-6 MVC) returns to the Credit Union 1 Arena this weekend for a set of Missouri Valley Conference matches against Murray State (12-8, 6-5 MVC) and Belmont (11-14, 5-6 MVC).

Friday's contest against the Racers will start at 6 p.m. and Saturday's first serve is slated for 5 p.m.
SCOUTING MURRAY STATE

• This will be the sixth meeting between the Flames and the Racers. UIC has the upper hand in the overall series, having won three of the last four meetings.
• In its first season in The Valley, UIC collected match sweeps against Murray State in both meetings. Seniors Martina Delucchi (La Plata, Argentina/San Cayetano) collected 23 kills and Mikala Henderson (St Michael, Minn./St. Michael Albertville) tallied 22 kills against the Racers last season.
• Murray State averages the third-most kills per set (13.89) and digs per set (16.85). The fourth-most points per set (16.63) in the MVC.
• Senior Darci Metzger has tallied the second-most kills (346) in the MVC this season, averaging 4.38 kills per set.
• Senior Dahlia Miller is a key component to the Racers' defense. The libero averages the second-most digs per set (5.41) in The Valley this season.

SCOUTING BELMONT

• This will be the sixth match-up between the Bruins and the Flames. UIC has a 3-1 overall series lead, having won the last three matches in a row.
• The Flames swept the Bruins in both meetings last season. Senior setter Sohila Wafeek (Cairo, Egypt/Al Gomohorya Language School) tallied 72 assists collectively against the Bruins in 2022.
• The Bruins are looking for its first win since Oct. 14 against Bradley
• Senior setter Kamryn Olson ranks fifth in the MVC in assists per set (9.00).
• Senior Ally Peterson has collected 214 kills this season, averaging 2.71 kills per set for the Bruins.

BY THE NUMBERS

• In her first match back from injury, Delucchi collected 26 in UIC's five-set thriller against Missouri State (10-13, 4-7 MVC) last Friday. The senior has 1352 career kills, the eighth-most kills in program history.
• A dozen kills a piece from senior Zahria Woodard (Oak Park, Ill./Oak Park and River Forest) and sophomore Cleo Lorenzo (Belo Horizonte, Brazil/Elite) helped lead the Flames to a four-set victory over Southern Illinois (12-10, 4-7 MVC) last Saturday.
• Becca Oldendorf (Lockport, Ill./Lockport Township) remains atop the MVC in hitting percentage, landing .441 percent of her hits.
• In the past two weeks, Wafeek has tallied 148 of her 417 assists in 2023. She has 2,883 career assists, ranking ninth in program history.

NEED TO KNOW

• Live stats will be available for both matches at UICFlames.com.
• Saturday's match against Belmont will be streamed live on ESPN+ with Terry Bonadonna on the call.
• Saturday's match will also be Hallow-weekend with UIC. Trick-or-treat will take place on the concourse and young fans will participate in a costume contest in between the second and third set.
• 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).