CHICAGO -- The University of Chicago volleyball team closed out the UAA regular season with two wins to lock up its first outright regular season conference title since 2019. UChicago earned a pair of tightly contested wins over #25 Carnegie Mellon and Case Western Reserve to earn the top seed in the UAA Tournament later this year. The Maroons rallied past the Tartans 3-1 before taking down the Spartans 3-1 to complete the Sunday sweep.

In the opener, UChicago had a slow start dropping set one to Carnegie Mellon 25-14.  The Maroons regrouped and took the second set 25-23 after a pair of big kills from Diya Mishra and Adelee Kaiton. In set three, the Maroons and the Tartans traded points back and forth for most of the set until Carnegie Mellon went on a six-point scoring run. UChicago quickly answered with a five-point run of their own, capitalizing on the Tartans' mistakes. After a kill from Olivia Zamis brought the score level at 22, a pair of back-to-back service errors by Carnegie Mellon helped UChicago take a 2-1 lead with a 25-22 win.

UChicago opened set four with three consecutive kills from Mishra. UChicago would find its largest lead at eight, but the Tartans were not backing down. After a 9-1 run by Carnegie Mellon, the score sat at 19-18 in favor of the Maroons. A kill from Gabi Spellings put UChicago at match point, but Carnegie Mellon was able to tie it up at 24. With an attack error from Carnegie and a much needed kill from Caroline Sele, the Maroons closed out the match with a 26-24 win in the fourth set.

UChicago was led by Diya Mishra, who finished with 11 kills. Thalita Marangon and Caroline Sele combined for 15 kills, and setter Hillary Cheung paced the offense with 21 assists and 17 digs. In addition, Olivia Zamis tallied two blocks, and Klaudia Barbarossa added an ace and eight digs in the win.

UChicago carried that momentum into its second match of the day, defeating Case Western Reserve 3-1 to cap off the weekend. In set one, Case Western took control early with a 16-11 lead over the Maroons. After a timeout by UChicago, Sele recorded a kill to ignite an 11-0 UChicago run. The Maroons' lead was too much for the Spartans as Olivia Ip closed out the set one win 25-19.

The Maroons rolled out with the same momentum for a 25-22 win in the second set. Though just as UChicago was headed for the sweep, the Spartans battled to take set three 25-15. Trying to secure their second win of the day, Chicago re-found their momentum in set four as they scored nine consecutive points fueled by Kaiton serves to take an early 14-8 lead. The Spartans fought back to bring the lead within seven, but a service ace from Klaudia Barbarossa sealed the deal for the Maroons' win number two and the top spot in the UAA Tournament.

Adelee Kaiton led the offense with 13 kills and four aces, while Sele finished with 12 and Marangon finished with 10. Hillary Cheung and Ellie Maxwell combined for 46 assists and seven service aces, including five from Cheung.
 
With the wins, the Maroons improve to 12-10 on the season and 6-1 in UAA play. UChicago returns to action in quick succession as they host the Carthage Firebirds on Tuesday at 6:30 PM CT.