CHICAGO (Oct. 23, 2026) – Freshman middle blocker
Robyn Ward hammed a career-high 11 kills with a .471 hitting percentage, while senior outside hitter
Gabi Peter added 10 kills and hit .421 as UIC picked up its sixth Missouri Valley Conference win in the past seven matches and celebrated Senior Night in style with a 3-0 (25-22, 25-21, 26-24) sweep of Indiana State on Friday night at Credit Union 1 Arena.
It was a balanced effort for the Flames (10-12, 6-4 MVC), who got seven kills and a match-high 13 digs from senior outside hitter
Tamara Kisic, along with eight kills, 12 digs and a career-high four blocks from sophomore outside hitter
Emma Colombari, and 10 digs from sophomore libero
Ava Young. Freshman setter
Paulina Ströh expertly managed the UIC offense with 22 assists, six digs and a career-high four aces.
The Flames jumped out to a 4-0 lead in set one and were on the front foot until Indiana State (7-13, 1-8 MVC) stormed back with five in a row for a brief 10-8 lead. However, UIC answered with its own 5-0 run to regain the lead. The Sycamores rallied to tie at 16, 17 and 20, but a three-point burst by the hosts allowed UIC to side-out its way to the opening set victory.
The second set was a back-and-forth affair before UIC wrapped a 4-0 run around the technical timeout to grab a 16-12 lead. ISU responded with six of the next seven to nose in front, 18-17, but that didn't last as the Flames closed the frame on an 8-3 run, the last two points coming on kills from Ward, to take a two-set lead.
UIC erased a brief early deficit in the third set with a massive 12-4 run to seize a 16-9 lead. The Flames still had a sizable lead at 22-16 following a Sycamore service error, but the visitors had one final challenge in them, going on an 8-2 run, the last two staving off match points, to knot the set at 24-24. That was the last hurrah for Indiana State, as UIC scored the final two points on emphatic kills from sophomore outside hitter
Sasha Pellettieri and Colombari to finish off the sweep.
The entire play-by-play and box score from Friday night's win over Indiana State can be foundÂ
here.
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UP NEXT
UIC heads back on the road next weekend to take on Murray State (Oct. 30; 6 p.m. CT) and Belmont (Oct. 31; 2 p.m. CT). Both matches will be streamed live on ESPN+, while live stats can be found at
UICFlames.com.Â
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