Volleyball sweeps No. 1 Oakland

Stephenee Yancy scored a match-high 14 kills Saturday. Yancy ranks fifth in the
nation in kills. — Photo: Steve Woltmann

The volleyball team (9-12, 3-3 HL) handed first-place Oakland (12-8, 4-1 HL) its first Horizon League loss of the season with a 3-0 sweep Saturday.

UIC seeks its third straight Horizon League victory Friday, when the Flames play at Valparaiso (17-3, 4-2 Horizon League). First serve is set for 7 pm inside the ARC.

The Flames recorded their fourth sweep of the season and second in a row after Friday night’s 3-0 win over Wright State. UIC put down 45 kills on a .340 attack percentage and collected nine blocks against the Golden Grizzlies.The Flames hit at a .324 clip over the weekend and limited their opponents to a .173 attack percentage. UIC had 86 kills, 15 blocks and six aces in the pair of victories.

Junior Stephenee Yancy, who ranks fifth in the nation with 338 kills, extended her double-digit kill streak to 21 matches with a match-high 14 kills on 24 attempts. Yancy, who was named the Horizon League’s Co-Offensive Player of the Week, collected a match-high five blocks and owns 38 total blocks over her last seven contests.

Sophomore Kara Johnson had 13 kills on 28 attempts for her 17th double-digit performance. She put down four kills on nine attempts in the first set and six on 14 swings in the third set. Johnson also added eight digs on defense.

Redshirt freshman Nicole Johnson, who leads the nation with 936 assists, had 36 assists and three blocks. She had five blocks in six sets over the weekend. Senior Molly McCoy had eight kills and a match-high 12 digs for the third double-digit dig effort of her career.

McCoy and senior Sara Jo Sternard collected two blocks and sophomore Casey Harris had three blocks. Harris and Sternard had four kills apiece.