CHICAGO – The UIC volleyball team (4-6, 0-0 MVC) battled point-for-point throughout the night before securing a five-set victory over Loyola (3-6, 0-0 A-10) Thursday at Gentile Arena in the first of two Chicago Cup matches.
Sophomore
Emma Colombari collected a career-high 20 kills and nine digs in the win. Senior
Tamara Kisic recorded her second double-double of the season with 11 kills and 18 digs. The Flames also tallied a season-high 11 service aces, led by freshman
Judy Asar with four.
Opening the first set with a 3-1 lead behind kills from Colombari and senior
Gabi Peter, before Loyola would score four consecutive points to enter the middle of the set with a 9-5 advantage. After Kisic would collect three consecutive kills to bring UIC within three, before the Ramblers would finish the set on a 5-2 run to secure the opening set, 25-18.
The Flames would even out the match with a strong second set, winning seven of the final eight rallies highlighted by a pair of service aces from junior
Ava Young and
Paulina Ströh. Kisic would secure the win with a big kill to give UIC a 25-17 second set victory.
The Flames entered the third set on a 6-1 run and didn't look back. Loyola rallied late with three straight points to trim UIC's lead to 23-20, but Colombari answered with back-to-back kills to secure the Flames' 2-1 match lead. Colombari finished with seven kills in the set, while UIC recorded five service aces.
Loyola responded quickly in the fourth set, taking a 6-2 lead before a kill from Kisic and a Rambler attack error helped UIC cut the deficit to 9-7. Following the media timeout, Loyola went on a 4-0 run to extend its lead and maintained the advantage late in the set, forcing a fifth set.
Opening the fifth set tied 4-4, UIC would go on a 6-0 rally, highlighted by a pair of Kisic's kills. Loyola would rally late to tie it on the 14
th and 15
th point before a kill from freshman
Robyn Ward was soon followed by Colombari's 20
th and final kill of the night secured a UIC victory.
The entire play-by-play and box score can be found
here.
SOCIAL MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS
UP NEXT!
The Flames take a break from the Chicago Cup Friday night, as they travel to DeKalb to take on Northern Illinois (4-5, 0-0 Horizon). First serve at the NIU Convocation Center is scheduled for 6 p.m. Fans interested in purchasing tickets can click this link
here.
The match will be live streamed on
ESPN+ with live stats available at
UICFlames.com.
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For more information on UIC volleyball, fans are encouraged to visit
UICFlames.com, or follow the Flames on social media through X (
@UIC_Volleyball and
@UICFlames) and Instagram (
@uicvolleyball and
@uicflames).
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