CHICAGO - Sophomore Amy Sauerwein (Belleville, Ill./Belleville Althoff Catholic) and freshmen Monique Houston (Wheeling, Ill./Wheeling) and Sarah Trimpe (Normal, Ill./Normal Community) collected double-doubles and four players notched double-digit kills as the Western Illinois volleyball squad picked up its fifth-straight victory with a 3-1 (30-28, 33-31, 31-33, 30-28) win at UIC. Western (10-9, 4-1 Mid-Con) took control of the match early with a 30-28 game one win. Despite trailing UIC 24-19, the Purple and Gold rallied back with three kills and a service ace along with three UIC errors to tie the game 26-all. Kills by Houston and sophomore Mary Olson (Elkhart, Ill./Mount Pulaski) and an attack error by the Flames gave Western the 29-28 advantage, and Western clinched the game on a UIC blocking error.Game two saw another dramatic Western rally as it climbed from a 29-25 deficit to push the game into extra points for the win. Western held an early 13-8 advantage in the game before six UIC kills and three aces put them back in the game at 20-all. The Flames continued to rally and increased their lead to 29-25 before Western tallied four-straight kills to tie the game at 29-29. Senior Jenna Yurs (Elgin, Ill./St. Edwards/Elgin C.C.) prevented the UIC win with a kill at 30-30, and a marker by sophomore Ashley Baker (Fort Wayne, Ind./Effingham [Ill.]) gave Western game-point at 32-31. UIC committed one of its seven errors on game point to put Western up 2-0 in the match.The Flames (9-10, 5-0 Horizon) came out strong in the third game and held a four-point lead until Western rallied for a 24-24 tie. The two teams continued to battle point-for-point until a Western attack error followed by a UIC ace netted the Flames a 33-31 win.Junior libero Jennifer Alexander (Sycamore, Ill./Sycamore) put together a strong defensive effort to lead Western in its 30-28 game four win by recording 10 of her 24 digs in the game. Western led throughout much of game four by as many as seven points before UIC came within two points at 28-26. The teams traded points before a Patty Melinauskas (Orland Park, Ill./Carl Sandburg) kill on match point gave Western the game four and match win.Sauerwein ended the evening with 13 kills and 13 digs while Houston tallied 13 kills and 14 digs. Trimpe collected a team-high 54 assists and 11 digs for her eight double-double of the season. Baker recorded 10 markers in the win while hitting .381, and Melinauskas came off the bench for nine kills and a team-high .400. Houston, Olson and Yurs each collected four blocks on the night.Katarina Nedeljkovic led UIC?s offense with a match-high 24 kills and a team-high 13 digs, while Ambria Springer and Maura McCarthy collected 13 and 10 kills, respectively. Katie Kozak tallied 58 assists and three aces as UIC fell to a 9-10 overall record.Western?s five-match win streak that began with a 3-2 win at Oral Roberts on September 30 is the longest since the 1993 won its first five matches of the season.Following tonight?s win, Western will return to The Hall for a two-match Mid-Con homestand Friday-Saturday that will celebrate the return of several volleyball alumni to Western Illinois.