SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (Nov. 20, 2023)—The third-seeded UIC volleyball team swept No. 7 seed (and tournament host) Missouri State, 3-0 in the quarterfinals of the 2023 Missouri Valley Conference Volleyball Championship Monday night at the Hammons Student Center. This marks the second consecutive year the Flames have advanced to the MVC Championship semifinals.
 
UIC will next play No. 2 seed Drake in the semifinals at 6 p.m. (CT) Tuesday. The match will be streamed on ESPN+ and live stats will be available on UICFlames.com.
 
COMMENT FROM HEAD COACH JUSTIN INGRAM
"It was a super performance by Becca Oldendorf and Zahria Woodard tonight. We are passing and ball handling at an exceptional level in order to set them up enough. As the match continued, it continued to remain dominant for us. Superb job from Martina Delucchi as well on a super offensive night, piling up 15 kills. She is doing a great job for us."
 
COMMENT FROM SENIOR MARTINA DELUCCHI
"I think we did a really good job collectively. We were leaning on each other and moving on mistakes we may have made. It feels good to have that type of win going into the match tomorrow against Drake. I think if we played the same way with how played together today, I think we would have a really good match tomorrow.
 
FIRST SET (25-16, UIC)

• The Flames struck early in the set, collecting the first three points behind kills from their first-team all-conference seniors Martina Delucchi (La Plata, Argentina/San Cayetano) and Zahria Woodard (Oak Park, Ill./Oak Park and River Forest).
• Woodard collected her third consecutive block early in the set, joined by senior Mikala Henderson (St. Michael, Minn./St. Michael Albertville), to keep UIC ahead, 7-3.
• The first ace of the match came off the serve of senior Jaclyn Oblena (Orland Park, Ill./Carl Sandburg) to give UIC a 9-4 lead.
• A 6-0 UIC rally, highlighted by a trio of kills from Woodard, pushed the Bears to call timeout (18-10).
• Three kills from senior Becca Oldendorf (Lockport, Ill./Lockport Township) late in the set created multiple set points for UIC at 24-12.
• Oldendorf clinched UIC's first-set victory with her sixth kill of the set, finishing with a perfect 1.000 hitting percentage.

 
SECOND SET (25-20, UIC)

• Three kills from Delucchi early on pushed the Flames to a 3-1 lead to begin the set.
• Delucchi remained on fire offensively, picking up her seventh kill to keep the Flames ahead (10-6).
• Freshman Gabi Peter (Gilbert, Ill./Hampshire) capped off a 5-1 UIC run with a kill to give the Flames a 19-12 lead entering the latter portion of the set.
• The Flames collected their second consecutive set victory behind sophomore Cleo Lorenzo's (Belo Horizonte, Brazil/Elite) fifth kill of the match.

 
THIRD SET (25-16, UIC)

• After going point-for-point with Missouri State early in the set, the Flames broke away from the Bears, starting with Peter's second kill of the night.
• A pair of kills from Henderson and Peter capped off a 6-0 rally for the Flames and forced the Bears into a timeout (8-3).
• UIC's third ace of the night from senior setter Sohila Wafeek (Cairo, Egypt/Al Gomhorya Language School) kept the Flames ahead at 11-6.
• Delucchi's 15^th kill of the night was soon followed by her lone ace of the night to extend UIC's lead to 20-11.
• The Flames secured the match victory a few points later, thanks to Oldendorf's 11^th kill, followed by a Missouri State attack error.

 
BY THE NUMBERS

• Thanks to her six-block performance on Monday, Woodard now holds the UIC single season record for total blocks (164), surpassing Ambria Springer's 160 blocks in 2006.
• After her 15-kill performance, Delucchi has earned double-digit kills in 22 matches this season.
• Finishing with a .588 hitting percentage, Oldendorf has 15 matches this season with a .500 hitting percentage or better.

 
FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA

• For more information on the tournament, visit the MVC Championship Central for tickets, updates on the bracket and match recaps.
• 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).