DePaul Closes Out Nonconference Competition at Chicago Cup

Friday, September 17

Evanston, Ill.

4:00 P.M. CT

DePaul University

Loyola Chicago

DePaul Closes Out Nonconference Competition at Chicago Cup

9/16/2021 4:00:00 PM | WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL

Live Stats (All Three Matches)Match Notes (PDF)Watch (Friday)Watch (Saturday)

Blue Demons to face Loyola, Northwestern and UIC over two days

CHICAGO – DePaul women's volleyball will close out its nonconference slate Sept. 17-18 with the Chicago Cup hosted at Welsh-Ryan Arena. The Blue Demons will open the three-game slate with Loyola on Friday at 4 p.m. before a doubleheader on Saturday with Northwestern at Noon and UIC at 5:30 p.m.

All contests will be streamed live on BTN+ for a fee. Additionally, face coverings are required for all fans at Welsh-Ryan Arena regardless of vaccination status.

Demon Doings:

The Blue Demons enter the weekend 4-5 after going 1-2 at the DePaul Invitational, Sept. 10-11, picking up a 3-1 victory over Penn.
A pair of Blue Demons posted career-high performances last weekend with sophomore Jill Pressly posting 24 kills in the victory over the Quakers and classmate Hanna Karl putting down 14 kills in a 3-1 setback against Oakland.
Pressly paces the Blue Demons attack with 131 kills on the season to average 3.74 kills per set, good for fourth in the BIG EAST. The Plano, Texas native has tallied a double-double in seven of nine matches this season and has been named to three all-tournament teams in three weekends of action.
Libero Rachel Krasowski has been on a tear recently in the back row, averaging 5.54 digs per set to lead the BIG EAST and rank sixth in the nation. Krasowski has notched double-digit digs in all 19 career starts.
Senior middle blocker Donna Brown and graduate right side Emma Price bolster the offense with 2.23 and 2.27 kills per set, respectively.
Aly Kindelberger has been extremely potent at the net hitting at a .365 efficiency to go along with a team-high 31 blocks.

Scouting the Competition:

Loyola – Loyola has won five of its last six matches and hold a 6-3 non-conference record through the first three weekends of play. At the K-State Invitational, the Ramblers went 2-1 with wins over Ohio and Fresno State before falling in a 3-2 decision to the Wildcats. Addie Barnes and Taylor Venuto lead the way in Rogers Park. Barnes is averaging 3.17 kills per set while Venuto is putting up 2.76 at a .384 clip. Sophomore libero Grace Hinchman leads the back line with 5.08 digs per set. Amanda Berkely is in her fourth season as the Ramblers head coach.
Northwestern – The Wildcats have won two of their last three matches and enter the weekend at 3-5. Temi Thomas-Aliara comes in with the heavy arm on the outside for NU with 3.48 kills per set. Sophomore middle blocker Leilani Dodson has recorded 31 blocks to go along with 64 kills. Shane Davis, an all-american setter at Loyola, is in his sixth year leading the Wildcats.
UIC – The Flames enter the weekend round robin with a 4-5 record. Last weekend at the UIC Invitational, the Flames went 2-1 picking up wins over Belmont and Chicago State. In early non-conference action UIC has fallen to BIG EAST foes Butler (3-1) and Marquette (3-2). The Flames are led by sophomore outside hitter Martina Delucchi who is averaging 3.59 kills per set to go along with 3.50 digs. Head Coach Justin Ingram is entering his fifth season at the helm of the program.

Series Stuff:

Loyola leads the all-time series over DePaul, 32-12. The Blue Demons last victory came in 2017 on the Ramblers home court.
DePaul will meet Northwestern for the 28th time on Saturday afternoon, the Wildcats hold the edge on the series, 19-7-1.
UIC has a 27-18 advantage in the series history between the two programs.

From Head Coach Marie Zidek: "The Chicago Cup gives the city an opportunity to see the variety of volleyball programs that call Chicago home. All four of us play in different conferences that reflect vastly different styles of play. I remember going to local tournaments like this growing up, and it's a great opportunity to battle for local bragging rights. Loyola is a super fun way to open up. They play rhythmic and balanced. With both of their top players back, it's a great opportunity for us to get played into rhythm and start a hot streak. The opportunities are there this weekend for us to heat up in ways teams have done so on us. Excited to see our programs battle it out."

Up Next: The Blue Demons will open BIG EAST Conference play on the road with a trip to Washington, D.C. to face Georgetown on Sept. 24 followed by a matchup with Villanova on Sept. 25.

For all of the latest on DePaul Women's Volleyball, stay tuned to depaulbluedemons.com and follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.