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MACOMB, Ill. - Playing in Western Hall for the first time since
drawing a record crowd on Sept. 20, the Western Illinois volleyball team was
aced 10 times by in-state rival Illinois-Chicago in a 3-0 (18-25, 17-25, 14-25)
loss to the Flames Monday night.
UIC outside hitter Kelsey Safranek, who entered the contest
averaging 3.29 kills per set, had a match-high
19 kills and senior Jessica Dalke tallied 37 assists, nine digs and four
service aces against the Fighting Leathernecks (8-20). The Flames (13-15) ended the
match with 46 kills on 106 attempts for a .330 attack percentage.
"We were very aggressive on
offense tonight, but we could not find a rhythm because of our struggles in
serve receive." Western Illinois head coach Kym McKay said. "UIC put a lot of
pressure on us at the service line and did not allow us to feed our big
hitters. We scored a lot of quality points tonight, but we could not put together
runs due to our lack of ball control."
Junior Allison Gilbert had a
team-high 10 kills for her 18th double-digit performance
this season. Gilbert, who has led the Leathernecks offensively 12 times, hit
.333 on 21 attempts. Fellow junior Cait Egan added eight kills on 19
attempts for a team-high .368 attack percentage.
Defensively, Ellen Miller
was in double-figures for the 12th consecutive match with a
team-high 10 digs. The senior has averaged 3.84 digs per set over that stretch.
Freshman Heather Smith had 15 assists and collected her team-high 24th
service ace of the season in the first set.
Tied 6-6 in the first set,
two Egan kills and a Safranek attack error caused UIC to call a timeout down
9-6. The Flames countered with a 6-0 run highlighted by four kills and two
service aces. The Leathernecks trimmed the UIC lead to 13-11 following
Gilbert's fifth kill of the set, but Western never got closer in a 25-18 first
set loss. Gilbert hit .500 on eight attempts in the set, and Egan chipped in
four kills on nine attempts.
Down 8-4 in the second set,
Western went on a 3-0 run highlighted by kills from Katie Hosteng and Megan
Toczek to cut the UIC lead to 8-7. The Flames responded with a 5-0 run that
included two service aces and two Safranek kills. UIC had just two more attack
errors the rest of the way in a 25-17 second set victory. Western Illinois
posted a .308 attack percentage in the second set, but allowed UIC to record 17
kills with a .500 attack percentage.
UIC captured eight out of
the first nine points in the third set and never trailed in a 25-14 victory to
secure the match win. Overall, the Flames held a 7-1 advantage in blocks and
collected 43 assists on 46 kills, which are both opponent season-highs for a
three-set match.
Western Illinois gets one
day off before hosting in-state rival SIU-Edwardsville at Western Hall Wednesday for the
2010 home finale. The match is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.
