Chicago Cup Up Next for DePaul Volleyball

CHICAGO – DePaul volleyball will close out its non-conference schedule with the annual Chicago Cup hosted at the Flames Athletic Center Sept. 16-17. The Blue Demons are scheduled to meet Northwestern, Loyola, and UIC for three matches across two days.

Schedule:
Friday, Sept. 16 – vs. Northwestern – 4 p.m. – Live Stats
Saturday, Sept. 17 – vs. Loyola – 10 a.m. – Live Stats
Saturday, Sept. 17 – at UIC – 7 p.m. – Live Stats

From Head Coach Marie Zidek: "What an excellent weekend of volleyball ahead of us. All four teams come into this weekend hot. Northwestern, Loyola, and UIC all play very different styles of volleyball that will require an incredible amount of adjusting and scheming match to match. I am excited to see what this team can continue to hold from our success last weekend and build on this weekend against some very high-level competition."

Last Time Out: The Blue Demons are coming off a 3-0 weekend at the DePaul Invitational Sept. 2-3. Zidek and Co. swept the competition, taking down Virginia Tech, Eastern Michigan and Saint Louis all by the score of 3-1. Senior outside hitter Jill Pressly led the way offensively with 49 kills in three matches (4.08 kp/s) while picking up 42 digs (3.50 dp/s). Libero Rachel Krasowski picked up a massive 85 digs on the weekend for 7.73 per set. Pressly, Krasowski and teammate Taylor Underwood were tabbed to the DePaul Invitational All-Tournament Team.

Underwood Named BIG EAST Freshman of the Week: Freshman right side Taylor Underwood was named BIG EAST Freshman of the Week on Monday afternoon after turning in three stellar performances in an undefeated weekend for the Blue Demons. Underwood totaled double-digit kills in all three matches to average 3.33 per set at a .326 clip. In Friday's home opener against Virginia Tech, the Norco, Calif. native went for a career-high 16 kills while attacking at a .353 mark. In a 3-1 win against Eastern Michigan, Underwood totaled 14 kills at an efficient .387 clip before notching 10 kills and four blocks in the weekend finale against Saint Louis.

Scouting the Competition:
Northwestern: Off to their best start since 2017, the Wildcats enter the weekend 8-1 on the season including a sweep over then-ranked No. 24 Pepperdine. NU ranks ninth in the nation with a .301 attack percentage behind senior outside hitter Temi Thomas-Ailara who is averaging 3.45 kills per set. Fifth-year libero Megan Miller leads the back line with 3.84 digs per set while senior middle blocker Desiree Becker is averaging 1.32 blocks per set. Shane Davis is in his seventh season at the helm in Evanston.

Loyola: The Ramblers enter the Chicago Cup winners of their last three matches and sit at 6-4 overall. Loyola has played a tough non-conference slate with matches against Tennessee, Purdue, Michigan and Marquette among other teams from power-five conferences. Outside hitter Emily Bannit is averaging 2.36 kills per set while counterpart Karlie McNabb is putting up 2.46 per set. Junior libero Grace Hinchman is averaging 4.49 digs per set. Loyola's head coach Amanda Berkley is in her fifth season leading the Ramblers.

UIC: The Flames are 6-3 through nine matches in 2022 highlighted by a 3-1 win over RV Miami last weekend. Martina Deluchhi is pacing UIC on the outside with 4.11 kills per set. On the defensive end, middle blocker Zahria Woodard has totaled a team-high 34 blocks while libero Jaclyn Oblena has collected 121 digs. In his fifth season, Justin Ingram is 95-55 as the head coach of UIC.

Series Stuff: The Wildcats hold the all-time series lead between the two programs 19-8-1. DePaul got the best of Northwestern on their home court in 2021, picking up a 3-2 victory to snap a 16-match losing streak with the Wildcats.

DePaul trails Loyola 13-28 through 41 meetings between the local rivals. The Blue Demons took down the Ramblers 3-0 in 2021 behind 11 kills from Bailey Nelson.

The Blue Demons have closed the gap in the all-time series with the Flames, 19-25, after a three-set victory in last season's Chicago Cup.

Up Next: Following the short trip to UIC, the Blue Demons will open BIG EAST play on the road, Wednesday, Sept. 21, at Marquette. First serve from the Al McGuire Center is set for 7 p.m. with coverage on the BIG EAST Digital Network carried on FloSports.

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Players Mentioned

Rachel Krasowski

Bailey Nelson

Jill Pressly

Taylor Underwood

DePaul University Athletics