University of Illinois at Chicago Men's Volleyball

Schumacher-Cawley concluded her sixth season as head coach in 2014 with 85 victories at the helm of the UIC program. She earned a four-year contract in March 2013 and will be the Flames' leader through 2017. Schumacher-Cawley led UIC to a five-win improvement in 2014 (14-16, 7-7 HL) as the Flames earned the No. 6 seed in the Horizon League Tournament. UIC also earned yearly honors from the conference as Stephenee Yancy (512 kills and 106 blocks) was named the Co-Player of the Year and Nicole Johnson (1,365 assists, 227 digs and 26 aces) was named the Freshman of the Year.  Yancy's accolade was UIC's first Player of the Year award in program history and Johnson's award was UIC's second Freshman of the Year as Meghan Keck earned the accolade in 2002. Yancy and Johnson both earned a spot on the All-League Team while Johnson was selected to the All-Freshman Team. Yancy also earned American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Honorable Mention All-Region honors, the first UIC player to receive the accolade since 2012 (MaryKate Imrie). The 2014 UIC Flames showed statistical improvements over the 2013 squad. The Flames hit 69 points higher (.219 - .150) and put down nearly two more kills per set (13.88 - 11.89). UIC ranked 33rd nationally with 13.88 kills per set and 35th with 13.00 assists per set. Additionally, UIC's NCAA RPI ranking improved by 76 spots (190 - 266). Schumacher-Cawley was named the 2013 UIC "INSPIRE" Award winner in November 2013. As part of Employee Recognition Month at UIC, the award recognizes individuals who have based their work and daily attitudes on UIC's core values of Integrity, Nurturance, Service, Pride, Intellect, Respect and Excellence. Schumacher-Cawley finished her fifth season at the helm of the program in 2013. Junior Sara Sternard (329 kills and 80 total blocks) was named to the 2013 All-Horizon League Team while senior MaryKate Imrie (1,084 assists) finished her career with 3,634 assists, which ranks third all-time in program history. Schumacher-Cawley led the Flames to the Horizon League Championship in 2012 for the first time since 2006. The team compiled a 10-4 Horizon League record and earned the No. 2 seed heading into the League tournament. Three Flames were named to the Horizon League all-League team and two were named to the all-tournament team. Setter MaryKate Imrie was named an AVCA Midwest Region Honorable Mention and the team earned a No. 9 Midwest Region ranking on Nov. 12. During the 2011 season, Schumacher-Cawley guided Kelsey Safranek and Sara Sternard to All-Horizon League honors. Safranek grabbed first-team honors, while Sternard was named to the All-Newcomer team. The 2011 campaign was highlighted by a five-match winning streak that included defeating four conference foes. Among the victories, UIC defeated Loyola and Green Bay, which led to Sternard being named the Horizon League's "Offensive Player of the Week." In 2010, Schumacher-Cawley compiled a recruiting class that received Honorable Mention recognition from PrepVolleyball.com, becoming the only Horizon League program to garner that distinction. During the 2010 campaign, the team captured the Best Western Invitational championship in Jacksonville, Fla. That title marked the first non-conference tournament triumph away from Chicago in over 15 years. UIC also took second at the annual Chicagoland Challenge during the season's opening weekend. The Flames toppled DePaul in five thrilling sets in the first match before falling to a Northwestern team that eventually would advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament in the championship. In 2009, her first season at the helm, Schumacher-Cawley helped guide the Flames to an overall record of 16-18 and 8-8 in Horizon League play. UIC posted key conference victories over Loyola, Milwaukee and eventual League champion, Cleveland State. The Flames concluded the 2009 season with a trip to the Horizon League Championship semifinals, a level that they had not reached since 2006. Schumacher-Cawley, assisted in the development of outside hitters, Casie Sullivan and Safranek. Sullivan was voted to the all-League team as chosen by the conference's coaches after leading her team with 194 kills and ranking second with 192 digs in conference play. Safranek was named to the all-Newcomer team upon totaling 170 kills, 25 digs and 31 total blocks against league opponents. A 2002 graduate of Penn State, Schumacher-Cawley helped lead the Nittany Lions to the 1999 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship and three Big Ten Conference titles during her career at University Park. Schumacher-Cawley was a three-time All-Big Ten selection, two-time All American and an AVCA All-Region selection in 2001. Schumacher tallied 1,310 kills (13th in Penn State history) 772 digs and 299 blocks. Schumacher-Cawley served as a volunteer coach for Illinois during the 2002 season, in addition to spending her collegiate career at Penn State serving as a coach for the Nittany Lions' summer camps in both volleyball and basketball. She first broke onto the local sports scene as a prep star for volleyball power Mother McAuley. From 1993-97 she excelled at volleyball and basketball, earning All-Girls Catholic Athletic Conference (GCAC) honors in both sports and leading the Mighty Macs to state and national titles in volleyball. Schumacher-Cawley was named the 1996 Player of the Year by The Star Newspaper and the 1997 Chicago Sun-Times Female Athlete of the Year, among many awards and highlights, before heading to Penn State. She was inducted into the GCAC Hall of Fame in 2001 and the Catholic League Hall of Fame in 2003. In 2008 a resolution in the Illinois House of Representatives congratulated Schumacher-Cawley for her achievements. On October 15, 2008, Schumacher-Cawley was inducted into the prestigious Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame for her contributions to the sport of volleyball as an athlete and a coach. She was inducted in a class that featured the likes of Pro Football Hall of Famers Dick Butkus, Gale Sayers and Marv Levy, Chicago Cubs great Andre Dawson and Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley. Schumacher-Cawley was married on May 26, 2007 to Mike Cawley of Pittsburgh. The couple has three daughters named Stella (4), Nora (3) and Shea (born June 2014). The family resides in Chicago.

Yopchick was named an American Volleyball Coaches Association's (AVCA) "Thirty Under 30" recipient. An experienced teacher and coach, Yopchick helped Stephenee Yancy secure a second consecutive Horizon League Offensive Player of the Year in 2015. Yancy led the conference in both kills per set (4.69) and attacking percentage (.371). In 16 matches against league foes, Yancy was even better. She registered 5.12 kills per set at a clip of .375 in those contests.The middle hitter also ranked among the nation's leaders in several statistical categories. Yancy finished eighth nationally in kills per set and ninth in points per set (5.21). She ranked ninth in the NCAA with 544 total kills and 10th with 604 points. Yopchick helped UIC to a five-win improvement in 2014 (14-16, 7-7 HL) as the Flames earned the No. 6 seed in the Horizon League Tournament. UIC also earned yearly honors from the conference as Yancy (512 kills and 106 blocks) was named the Co-Player of the Year and Nicole Johnson (1,365 assists, 227 digs and 26 aces) was named the Freshman of the Year. Yancy's accolade was UIC's first Player of the Year award in program history and Johnson's award was UIC's second Freshman of the Year as Meghan Keck earned the accolade in 2002. Yancy and Johnson both earned a spot on the All-League Team while Johnson was selected to the All-Freshman Team. Yancy also earned American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Honorable Mention All-Region honors, the first UIC player to receive the accolade since 2012 (MaryKate Imrie). The 2014 UIC Flames showed statistical improvements over the 2013 squad. The Flames hit 69 points higher (.219 - .150) and put down nearly two more kills per set (13.88 - 11.89). UIC ranked 33rd nationally with 13.88 kills per set and 35th with 13.00 assists per set. Additionally, UIC's NCAA RPI ranking improved by 76 spots (190 - 266). In 2013, Yopchick helped guide Sara Sternard (329 kills and 80 total blocks) to the All-Horizon League Team. Additionally, MaryKate Imrie (1,084 assists in 2013) finished her UIC career with 3,634 assists, which ranks third all-time in program history. Yopchick assisted in leading the 2012 team to the Horizon League Championship match, in addition to guiding five UIC members to all-Horizon League accolades. The team earned a No. 9 AVCA Midwest Region ranking. Following the 2011 season, Yopchick was named one of just 30 recipients in the country for the AVCA "Thirty Under 30" Award. She was one of only 11 assistant coaches in the nation selected to the honor. She received the honor for her commitment to UIC, the sport of volleyball and the development of young women across the country. In year two, the Flames captured the Best Western Invitational championship in Jacksonville, Fla. It was the first non-conference tournament victory away from Chicago for the Flames in over 15 years. UIC also took second at the Chicagoland Challenge, falling to eventual NCAA Tournament team, Northwestern. In her inaugural season with the Flames, Yopchick was instrumental in helping the team achieve a three-win improvement in Horizon League play. UIC notched key regular season victories over Loyola, Milwaukee and Cleveland State, who would go on to capture the Horizon League Championship. Also in the Chicago native's first season with the Flames, the squad made it to the Horizon League Tournament semifinals in November, a round that they had not reached since 2006. Yopchick, who played on the prep level at local powerhouse Mother McAuley and in the collegiate ranks at DePaul, came to UIC after two years as an assistant coach at Marshall. Yopchick served as an assistant to head coach Mitch Jacobs at Marshall for the 2007 and 2008 campaigns. While there she helped the Thundering Herd win the 2007 Conference USA regular season title. The Evergreen Park, Ill., native was a decorated four-year letterwinner as a libero for the Blue Demons from 2002-2006, serving as DePaul's team captain from 2004-06. Yopchick earned All-Conference USA Third Team accolades in 2004, when she set the school's fifth all-time best mark in single-season digs with 510 and established the McGrath Arena record for digs in a single match (34) against Tulane that October. Off the court Yopchick was a BIG EAST Academic All-Star, a C-USA Academic Honor Roll student-athlete and a constant on the DePaul Athletic Director's Honor Roll. She was an active member of DePaul's Student-Athlete Captain's Council, serving as the organization's vice president in 2006-07, and earned both the DePaul University Outstanding Senior Award and the DePaul Senior Leadership Award for Athletics. As a prep star at Mother McAuley on Chicago[apos]s South Side, Yopchick was a key component for the Mighty Macs during their IHSA volleyball championship run in 2000. She has served as a counselor at the Mother McAuley High School Volleyball Camps since 1999 and as a coach and camp counselor for the Elite Volleyball School in Chicago since 2003. Yopchick graduated from DePaul with a Bachelor of Arts degree in secondary education with a concentration in English in March of 2007. She received her Master of Arts degree in secondary education from Marshall in May of 2009. Yopchick and her husband Dan reside in Evergreen Park, Ill., with their daugher Grace.

Wielebnicki helped UIC to a five-win improvement in 2014 (14-16, 7-7 HL) as the Flames earned the No. 6 seed in the Horizon League Tournament. UIC also earned yearly honors from the conference as Stephenee Yancy (512 kills and 106 blocks) was named the Co-Player of the Year and Nicole Johnson (1,365 assists, 227 digs and 26 aces) was named the Freshman of the Year.  Yancy's accolade was UIC's first Player of the Year award in program history and Johnson's award was UIC's second Freshman of the Year as Meghan Keck earned the accolade in 2002. Yancy and Johnson both earned a spot on the All-League Team while Johnson was selected to the All-Freshman Team. Yancy also earned American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Honorable Mention All-Region honors, the first UIC player to receive the accolade since 2012 (MaryKate Imrie).  The 2014 UIC Flames showed statistical improvements over the 2013 squad. The Flames hit 69 points higher (.219 - .150) and put down nearly two more kills per set (13.88 - 11.89). UIC ranked 33rd nationally with 13.88 kills per set and 35th with 13.00 assists per set. Additionally, UIC's NCAA RPI ranking improved by 76 spots (190 - 266). In 2013, Wielebnicki helped guide Sara Sternard (329 kills and 80 total blocks) to the All-Horizon League Team. Additionally, MaryKate Imrie (1,084 assists in 2013) finished her UIC career with 3,634 assists, which ranks third all-time in program history. In Wielebnicki's first season with UIC, he helped lead the Flames to the 2012 Horizon League Championship match and earn an AVCA Midwest No. 9 ranking. He also helped guide five UIC members to All-Horizon League accolades. Wielebnicki joined the UIC staff after serving as an assistant coach at Evansville for two seasons. During his time with the Purple Aces', he assisted in various aspects of the program, including player development, working primarily with outside hitters, opposite hitters and defensive specialists. Prior to Evansville, Wielebnicki was the top assistant coach at Western Carolina for one season. In addition to his work with position players, he directed program camps and managed fundraising efforts. Additionally, he was on the forefront of the recruitment process. Wielebnicki also served as a student manager and student assistant at Illinois State for the women's volleyball program, while also handling vice president and captain duties and playing on the men's volleyball club team. During his tenure with the Redbirds, he assisted the women's team to a 2007 NCAA Tournament appearance, and a second-place finish in the Missouri Valley Conference. On the men's club team, Wielebnicki paced the men's team to a 2008 third-place finish in the men's Division I-AA, where he played outside hitter, defensive specialist and libero. A native of Hinsdale, Ill., Wielebnicki attended Hinsdale South High School, before attending and playing volleyball at Lewis University from 2004-06. He then graduated from Illinois State in 2008 with a history degree and a minor in athletic coaching. UIC Flames Women's Volleyball Home