CEDAR FALLS, Ia. (Nov. 25, 2024) – The UIC volleyball team (23-9, 13-5 MVC) couldn't be stopped on the attack, dismantling the No. 2 Drake (20-10, 16-2 MVC) in a three-set sweep to punch their ticket to the 2024 Missouri Valley Conference Championship at the McLeod Center.
Freshman
Antonie Kelnárová (Prague, Czech Republic) turned in a stellar semifinals' performance with 15 kills and five digs. Junior
Cleo Lorenzo (Belo Horizonte, Brazil/Elite) collected 11 kills and eight digs. Senior
Kayanna Jones (Normal, Ill./Normal West) tallied eight kills in the win.
The full play-by-play and box score recap against Drake can be found
here.
COMMENT FROM HEAD COACH JUSTIN INGRAM
"My assistant coach
Lucas Yanez had a very good play coming into this match. Our block set up was different from the previous times we matched up and the results were significant. Our servers were dominant and Antonie was a force."
COMMENT FROM SENIOR KAYANNA JONES
"I want to first give all glory to God! I am super proud of my team; we prepared for this and we went out there and put in the work! I love how we kept our composure throughout the whole game and just worked together. We played them twice and knew what we needed to do and went out there and all did our jobs. I'm super happy and just proud of every single person on the team because everyone contributed one way or another. To sweep a team in the semifinals is a blessing and I'm glad I got to do it alongside my team. Go Flames!"
SOCIAL MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS
BEYOND THE BOXSCORE
- Now at 23-9, the Flames have tied the most wins since the 1988 season (23-17).
- 23 wins is the most wins under Ingram, surpassing their 22-10 mark in the 2022 season.
- Kelnárová has tallied 35 kills in the MVC Volleyball Tournament, maintaining a .441 hitting percentage across seven sets played.
- The volleyball team's run to the championship is the first for UIC since joining The Valley in July 2022.
CHAMPIONSHIP NEXT!
The Flames are slated to meet No.1 Northern Iowa (23-7, 18-0 MVC) for the 2024 Missouri Valley Conference Volleyball Championship at the McLeod Center for a 4 p.m. (CT) first serve. The match will be available to stream on ESPN+ with live stats on
UICFlames.com.
FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA!
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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