DePaul University

CHICAGO The DePaul volleyball team finished the Chicagoland Classic with a 3-2 (25-15, 23-25, 22-25, 25-15, 15-25) loss to UIC, Saturday at the Loyola-Chicago’s Gentile Center.  The Blue Demons fall to 0-2, while UIC improves to 1-1 and finishes the Chicagoland Classic in third place.

The hard fought and back-and-fourth match saw 25 ties and 14 lead changes before UIC won the fifth set 15-8.

The Flames commanded the first set as they jumped out to an early 8-1 lead, capitalizing on five kills and three unforced Blue Demon errors. Down 12-5, DePaul’s Caitlin Callaghan served for three consecutive points to force a UIC timeout. The Flames responded after the break and strung together a 5-1 run to halt DePaul’s momentum and put the set out of reach.  UIC won the first set 25-15. 

The Blue Demons refocused and forced UIC to make mistakes with their strong hitting and defensive presence in the second set. DePaul raced out to a 7-4 advantage and forced UIC to use its first timeout.  The Flames responded by tying the set at 10 on a DePaul attack error. 

The two teams continued to trade points before UIC tallied four unanswered points and took a 20-16 lead.  With a deficit to make-up, Sarah Cullen orchestrated a DePaul comeback as the Blue Demons tied the set at 23 on a Jacie Fiedler’s kill.  Cullen would serve the Blue Demons to victory as they won the second set 25-23.

The third set was back-and-fourth as nether team was able to find its rhythm and errors plagued both sides of the net.  Fiedler led the Blue Demon attack and tallied six kills in the third set. 

After trailing for most of the set, DePaul tied the frame at 20 with a kill by Cullen.  The Blue Demons continued to battle and with a wall created by Kate Letcher and Cullen, DePaul blocked its way to a 23-21 advantage.  A UIC attack error and kill by Cullen would give DePaul a 25-22 set three victory.

The fourth set followed the same trend as the teams battled for each point and the set was tied seven times.  Tied at nine, UIC used 10 kills and a .182 attack percentage to take the fourth set 25-15.

With the match on the line, DePaul and UIC went point-for-point exchanging the lead four times before UIC tallied three consecutive kills and took 10-7 lead.  The Blue Demons battled, but were unsuccessful as the Flames took the set 15-8.

Fiedler and Cullen led the Blue Demons with 12 kills apiece, while Christy Landschoot led the squad with a .375 (6-0-16) attack percentage. Landschoot dished out 36 assists and chipped in 18 digs.  Callaghan led the defensive effort with 20 digs.

UIC’s Katerina Hanackova paced the floor with 17 kills and 23 digs. 

The Blue Demons return to action next weekend at the Golden Bear Invitational hosted by California-Berkeley, Sept 5-6.  DePaul squares off against Cal-Riverside, James Madison and host Cal.