CHICAGO (Sept. 23, 2023)—The UIC volleyball team (10-5, 1-1 MVC) earned its first Missouri Valley Conference win of the season with a 3-0 sweep of Missouri State (6-8, 0-2 MVC) Saturday afternoon at Credit Union 1 Arena.
 
COMMENT FROM UIC HEAD COACH JUSTIN INGRAM

UIC head coach Justin Ingram shares his thoughts after the Flames victory over Missouri State! ????#ChicagosCollegeTeam | #FireUpFlames pic.twitter.com/ZTedwiJXkQ

— UIC Volleyball ???? (@UIC_Volleyball) September 23, 2023

"We knew Missouri State was going to come in and dig a lot of balls. We (also) knew we were going to be an offensive team again, but we were going to be challenged by their defense. Early on, we had some nice things happen. Cleo Lorenzo did a fantastic job, not just yesterday, but today as well. She was hitting for high efficiency and killing a whole bunch of balls for us. I think the confidence kept going throughout the course of this match and we were very efficient on the offensive side."
 
COMMENT FROM SENIOR LIBERO JACLYN OBLENA

Senior Libero @JaclynOblena was proud of the teams resilience to bounce back after last nights match with a victory!#ChicagosCollegeTeam | #FireUpFlames ???? pic.twitter.com/sVqNk2mcMB

— UIC Volleyball ???? (@UIC_Volleyball) September 23, 2023

"Coach Ingram warned us this was going to be a quick turnaround, and we were going to have to be prepared. Last night, looking at film of Missouri State, we had to be prepared prior to playing them. I was happy with the way we came out prepared and executed well, having a different mentality coming into this afternoon."
 
FIRST SET (25-17, UIC)

• The Flames opened the set on a 5-1 run, highlighted by back-to-back aces from senior Martina Delucchi (La Plata, Argentina/San Cayetano).
• After landing her second consecutive dig, senior libero Jaclyn Oblena (Orland Park, Ill./Carl Sandburg) set up senior Becca Oldendorf (Lockport, Ill./Lockport Township) for her third kill of the set to give UIC a 10-8 lead.
• Sophomore Ayat Amin (Cairo, Egypt/Al Waha International School) collected two consecutive kills to give UIC its 19^th point of the opening set.
• Back-to-back service aces from Cleo Lorenzo (Belo Horizonte, Brazil/Elite) were followed by Delucchi's third kill of the set to give UIC a 23-15 lead.
• Amin then earned her team-leading sixth kill to secure the first set for the Flames, 25-17.

 
SECOND SET (25-19, UIC)

• Lorenzo earned her third ace of the match to start UIC off with the lead in the second set.
• The sophomore outside hitter followed that up with four consecutive kills for the Flames to give UIC a 12-8 lead.
• Oblena earned the Flames' 20^th point of the set with the team's ninth ace of the match.
• Two consecutive kills from Amin pushed UIC to set point, which the Flames clinched on Oldendorf's ace, the 10^th of the match for UIC.

 
THIRD SET (25-15, UIC)

• The Flames started the set red hot on a 7-1 run. That was highlighted by two kills apiece from Delucchi and junior Kayanna Jones (Normal, Ill./Normal West).
• Amin's 12^th kill of the match helped push UIC's lead to 17-8 before a Missouri State timeout.
• Delucchi's fourth kill of the set maintained UIC's comfortable margin at 20-12.
• After a bad set from the Bears gave the Flames a handful of match points, Delucchi's 10^th kill earned UIC the victory.

 
UP NEXT FOR THE FLAMES
 
The Flames begin a three-game road trip at 6 p.m. Tuesday, when they travel to Valparaiso, with the match streamed live on ESPN+. The Beacons were 9-5 this season (1-0 in The Valley) heading into Saturday night's match against Southern Illinois.
 
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