VALPARAISO, Ind. (Sept. 26, 2023) – The UIC volleyball team (11-5, 2-1 MVC) earned its first Missouri Valley Conference road win Tuesday night with victory over Valparaiso (10-6, 2-1 MVC) 3-1.
COMMENT FROM UIC HEAD COACH JUSTIN INGRAM
"Valpo is a very interesting defensive-oriented team. They make it tremendously difficult to score. They average 18-20 digs a set. We saw that tonight. Our offense was hurting a little bit on the left side with
Cleo Lorenzo and
Martina Delucchi. They were doing a fine job, but they were getting digged. Offensively a very bright day for
Becca Oldendorf,
Zahria Woodard and
Ayat Amin. I think all three of those players were incredibly efficient and very impactful in scoring points for us."
FIRST SET (25-18, UIC)
- Senior Becca Oldendorf (Lockport, Ill./ Lockport Township) started the match by getting the Flames their first kill of the match. That was soon followed by a second chance kill from senior Zahria Woodard (Oak Park, Ill./ Oak Park and River Forest). UIC led early 7-5.
- Senior Martina Delucchi (La Plata, Argentina/ San Cayetano) and sophomore Ayat Amin each had two kills a piece to help the Flames maintain a 15-9 lead going into media timeout.
- After Oldendorf's fourth kill of the set, sophomore outside hitter Cleo Lorenzo (Belo Horizonte, Brazil/Elite) earned her second kill to force Valparaiso into a timeout. UIC led late 21-14.
- Delucchi's fifth kill pushed the Flames one point away from a set victory, which was later secured behind a kill from Woodard.
SECOND SET (25-20, VU)
- The Beacons went on a early 4-0 run, but that was thwarted by Lorenzo's third kill of the match. UIC trailed 10-7 early in the set.
- The Flames landed back-to-back blocking assists from Woodard with both Delucchi and Ayat midway through the set.
- Amin's seventh kill of the match found its way past Valparaiso defenders to bring the Flames within three points (20-17).
- Sophomore setter Francesca Venturini (Bergamo, Italy/Liceo Classico Paolo Sarpi) found a hole in Valparaiso's front line to earn UIC's 20th point, but the Beacons tied the match at 1-1 with a set victory the very next play.
THIRD SET (25-20, UIC)
- After trading point-for-point early in the set, Lorenzo's sixth kill of the match tied the set at 6-6.
- Oldendorf earned her six and seventh total blocks of the match to give UIC a 13-12 lead.
- The Flames then caught fire, going on an 8-2 rally. The rally was highlighted by kills from Delucchi and Oldendorf. As well, Oldendorf tallied two more blocks to bring her number to nine in the first three sets.
- The Flames earned the set victory after the Beacons bobbled a kill from Lorenzo to take a 2-1 match lead.
