Volleyball Splits Matches on Opening Day at UIC Invitational

The Central Connecticut volleyball team split its first two matches at the UIC Invitational on Friday. The Blue Devils fell to UIC in the opener, before rebounding with a sweep of Chicago State.

UIC 3, CCSU 0 (25-22, 25-21, 25-17)

Central (3-1) led early in the opening set before UIC broke a 4-4 tie with three straight points and did not surrender the lead before claiming the first set, 25-22.

The Flames (2-2) raced out to an early lead in the second set and led 20-15 before a Blue Devils rally closed the deficit to 21-20. UIC managed to hold off the late charge and claimed the second set, 25-21.

UIC closed out the contest by taking the third set, 25-17. The Flames used a run of five straight points to take a 7-4 lead and led the rest of the way.

Freshman Raquel Quirarte led the Blue Devils with 14 kills. Junior Brooke Schwab added six kills and hit a team-high .455. Senior Makenna Lommori had 31 aassists and a team-high nine digs. Junior Nicole Dean had three solo blocks and three block assists.

Alyssa Ehrhardt led the Flames with 16 kills. Nicole Johnson had 40 assists.

CCSU 3, Chicago State 0 (25-8, 25-19, 25-23)

The Blue Devils swept Chicago State in their second match of the day, 3-0. Quirarte led a balanced Central attack with eight kills.

CCSU cruised to a 25-8 win in the first set and took the second set 25-19. Chicago State led 20-14 in the third before a run of nine straight points put the Blue Devils in command and they closed the set out with a 25-23 win.

Lommori tallied 21 assists and 12 digs and a pair of service aces. Schwab had one solo block and four block assists.

Logan Miller led Chicago St. with eight kills.

After their second match on Friday, Central will conclude play at the UIC Invitational with a match against Morgan State on Saturday at 11:00 a.m.