Nov. 20, 2008

Flames Rally Twice, Hold on For Five-Set Win to Eliminate Guins

    Cleveland -- No. 8 UIC rallied late in two sets and used a big run in the deciding fifth set to eliminate ninth-seeded Youngstown State (20-25, 25-22, 21-25, 25-19, 10-15) in the first round of the Horizon League Volleyball Championship at Cleveland State's Woodling Gymnasium on Thursday evening.

    The Flames scored the seven final points in the first set (20-25), took six of the final seven in the third set (25-21) and went on a 10-3 run to close out the final set (15-10).

    UIC moves on to play top-seeded Milwaukee tomorrow at 11:30 a.m. in the tournament quarterfinals while YSU's season ends with a record of 11-17. Three of the losses came to the Flames, but tonight was the closest by far.

    Kaitlin O'Hara had a team-high 15 kills for YSU while Haley Kapferer and Ruth Boscaljon had 13 apiece. Senior Ebony Barbosa posted her fifth-straight double-double with 10 kills and 14 digs in her final collegiate match. Kapferer's 13 kills tied her career-high.

    Katerina Hanackova had 26 of UIC's 65 kills while Casie Sullivan had 11.

    The Flames scored the final seven points of the first set to take a 1-0 lead. UIC held a 12-11 lead and battled through four ties before finally surrendering the advantage. A Tasha Reid kill gave the Penguins their first lead since 11-10, and Kapferer's one-handed bump over the net found the floor to put YSU up 20-18.

    Following a Flames timeout, UIC scored seven straight to win 25-20. Hanackova had kills to tie the score, give the Flames the lead and on set point. She finished with six kills in 10 swings in the set. Kapferer finished with five kills in the set while Boscaljon had three in six attempts.

    The Penguins didn't allow a comeback in the second set despite UIC's efforts. YSU never trailed and had at least a two-point lead the entire match after taking a 5-3 lead. YSU took it's largest lead at 10-4 as part of a 7-1 run. UIC scored four straight to get within 10-8, and the margin dropped to two six other times before O'Hara's kill cinched the set for the Penguins, 25-22.

    YSU held UIC to a .019 attack percentage in the set, forcing 11 errors - four on blocks - against 12 kills. Barbosa had three kills to lead YSU while four players had two kills apiece.

    The Flames rallied again in the third set, scoring six of the final seven points. The Penguins led by as many as six following an 8-1 spurt that put them ahead 11-5. UIC closed to within one at 16-15 and eventually took its first lead since 4-3 on a block at 18-17. YSU tied the score three more times but never regained the lead as UIC pulled away to a 25-21 win.

    O'Hara had four kills while Boscaljon and Reid had three apiece. Hanackova had six to lead UIC to offset four errors. Four of the Flames' seven errors came on YSU blocks.

    UIC led 6-4 in the fourth set before YSU took the lead at 8-7 and never trailed again. YSU led by five twice before UIC closed to within 17-15. Off a timeout, YSU scored two straight points to go up four, and UIC did not get closer than three the rest of the way. O'Hara had two kills to put the Penguins up five in the final stretch, and Kapferer and Reid combined for YSU's third block of the stanza on set point.

    The Penguins had 14 kills and hit .324 behind five kills from O'Hara and four from Barbosa.

    UIC took a 3-1 lead in the final set, but YSU put together a 6-2 run to seize a 7-5 lead behind three kills in a four-point span from Kapferer. From that point, UIC scored five straight to go up 10-7 and kept YSU from climbing within two the rest of the way. UIC scored four of the final five points once YSU got within 11-9.

    The Flames hit .421 in the final set with nine kills against one error in 19 attempts. Kapferer had five of YSU's eight in the final set while Boscaljon had two.