BOX SCORE & PLAY-BY-PLAY

PRINTABLE BOX SCORE (.pdf)

PRINTABLE PLAY-BY-PLAY (.pdf)

CHICAGO - The Western Illinois volleyball team convincingly won the first set but struggled offensively for the remainder of the match in a 3-1 loss (25-17, 15-25, 16-25, 22-25) to in-state rival Illinois-Chicago (UIC) Tuesday night at the Flames Athletic Center.

UIC (3-0) had eight service aces and seven total blocks as the Flames controlled the Fighting Leathernecks' big hitters. Western Illinois (3-2) recorded a .276 attack percentage (12k-4e-29ta) in the first set victory but hit just .049 (32k-27e-101ta) the rest of the contest.

Western's middle hitters accounted for most of the offense Tuesday night. Junior Katie Hosteng put down 13 kills on 24 attempts while senior Cait Egan had 11 kills on 22 attempts. The pair combined for 12 kills on 18 swings in the fourth and final set but UIC hit .429 (18k-3e-35ta) to secure the match victory.

Hosteng leads the squad with 59 kills on the season and has been in double-digits in four of five matches. Meanwhile Egan posted her second straight double-digit performance and owns a team-high .308 attack percentage (43k-10e-107ta) this season.

Sophomore setter Sarah Fetter collected 32 assists for her fifth consecutive 30-plus assist performance. Fetter dished out 12 assists in the fourth set as Western Illinois hit .289 (17k-6e-38ta) during the final frame.

Junior libero Bridget Murphy, who was named Summit League Defensive Player of the Week Monday, compiled 14 digs. She is already past the 100-dig plateau this season (108) and is averaging a stellar 5.40 digs per set.

Meanwhile freshman outside hitter Ann Miller collected 11 digs for her fifth straight double-digit dig performance. Fellow freshman Molly Murphy had one of Western's three service aces on the night and now leads the squad with nine aces this season.

Western Illinois is back in action this weekend when the Fighting Leathernecks travel to Terre Haute, Ind. for the Drury Inn/ASICS Volleyball Challenge hosted by Indiana State. Western will play three matches over two days starting with a 9 a.m. matchup with SIU-Edwardsville on Saturday (Sept. 3).