CHICAGO (Oct. 11, 2024) – The UIC volleyball team (12-6, 4-2 MVC) fended off Missouri State (7-11, 1-5 MVC) in front of a loud home crowd in Missouri Valley Conference action Friday night
Freshman
Antonie Kelnárová (Prague, Czech Republic) tallied 16 kills and 12 digs in the victory. Sophomore
Gabi Peter (Gilbert, Ill./Hampshire) collected her first double-digit kill performance of the season with 11 kills against the Bears. Graduate student
Zahria Woodard (Oak Park, Ill./Oak Park and River Forest) contributed 11 total blocks over the four sets of play.
The full box score and play-by-play recap against Missouri State can be found
here.
COMMENT FROM HEAD COACH JUSTIN INGRAM
"The first set was just an anomaly; you just don't get those that many times over the course of the year where there is a point spread that great. Usually there is a lot shortly thereafter, which we experienced in the second set. However, Antonie was tremendous, she had a lot of really, really nice swings on offense for us. It kept us in system, and that was part of the struggle over the course of a match, which was sustaining some rhythm within our serve/receive. Once that did happen, we did get more comfortable to have some more big swings. Zahria had such a special blocking night. For her, when the fourth set was winding down, she probably had four in the last ten points. Just a tremendous presence up there at the net. It was a tough one, Missouri State certainly brought their A-game with their service, and their right-side attack caused some problems, but we stepped up and we felt pretty good about our performance."
COMMENT FROM GRADUATE STUDENT ZAHRIA WOODARD
"I felt like today went really great. We all just did a really good job leaning on each other, especially during the hard times. There were times where Missouri State was doing really well, they were fighting, and their defense was on point. At the end of the day, we did a really good job staying together as a team, keeping that confidence and energy. Looking forward to bringing that same energy tomorrow against SIU."
SOCIAL MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS
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FLAMES FACTS
- Kelnárová's 16-kill performance is a new collegiate high for the freshman outside hitter. She surpassed her 13-kills in UIC's three-set victory at Indiana State on Sept. 27.
- Peter ties her collegiate-high in the win against the Missouri State. She collected 11 kills a season ago against the Bears on the road on Oct. 20, 2023.
- Woodard's 11-block performance is her first double-digit block performance of the season, and her third of her career at UIC.
UP NEXT
The Flames finish their five match home stand Saturday, when they face off against Southern Illinois (9-8, 2-4 MVC) for a 5 p.m. (CT) first serve. The match will be available to stream on ESPN+ with live stats available on
UICFlames.com.
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