CEDAR FALLS, Ia. (Nov. 23, 2024) – The UIC volleyball team had a pair of student-athletes earn All-Missouri Valley Conference honors the morning of the 2024 MVC Volleyball Championship.
Graduate student
Zahria Woodard (Oak Park, Ill./Oak Park and River Forest) earned her second consecutive MVC All-Conference First Team honors. Freshman
Antonie Kelnárová (Prague, Czech Republic) was selected to MVC All-Freshman team after a stellar first season with the Flames.
Woodard didn't a miss single match in her final season with the Flames, playing in 115 sets. A pillar in front of the net, Woodard led the MVC/sixth in NCAA DI in total blocks (161). She also averaged 1.40 blocks per set, ranking her second in The Valley and 19
th in the country.
The Oak Park native also had her strongest offensive showing this season, reaching a season high in kills with 262 kills, collecting 11 double-digit kill performances throughout the season. Her accuracy was amongst some of the best in the country, with a conference-leading .447 hitting percentage. Her hitting percentage ranked her fifth in the entire NCAA.
Woodard earns her second MVC All-Conference First Team honors, after earning the recognition a season ago. She finishes her UIC career as the all-time leader in blocking assists (519) and total blocks (599).
Kelnárová emerged as a main contributor into the Flames' attack this season, collecting 206 kills, averaging 2.19 kills per set across 29 sets played in her first season at UIC. The freshman tallied nine double-digit kill performances, including a collegiate-high 16 kills in the four-set victory at Credit Union 1 Arena on Oct. 11 against Missouri State.
Kelnárová earned her first recognition from The Valley when she was selected as the Missouri Valley Conference Freshman of the Week on Sept. 30. She opened up conference play with 13 kills and a pair of service aces in the win at Indiana State, followed up with two kills and five digs in the win against Evansville the next night.
Kelnárová finished the season third on the team in kills, fifth on the team in service aces (14) and fourth on the team in digs (186).
After earning the third seed, the Flames are slated to face off against the winner of No. 6 Valparaiso and No.7 Murray State tomorrow at 6 p.m. (CT) at the McCleod Center. The game will be available to stream on ESPN+ with live stats available at
UICFlames.com.
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).
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