Nov. 21, 1999

CHICAGO - After claiming the MCC regular season crown, the UWM volleyball team fell to Loyola, 3-2, in the conference championship Sunday afternoon. Loyola captured the MCC's automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament with the win.

The Ramblers captured the first two games, 15-11, 15-10, respectively, but the Panthers bounced back to win games three and four, 15-11, 15-4. In the deciding fifth game, UWM was up 8-6 in rally scoring before Loyola claimed the lead and went on to win the game, 15-11, and the MCC crown.

"Our passing was missing most of the first two games," said UWM head coach Kathy Litzau. "We started to pass and hit well, and we shut down their hitters in the third and fourth games. But, we struggled on one rotation in rally and that hurt us."

UWM senior Ericka Malterer (Waupun, Wis.) led the Panthers with 24 kills, 14 digs, six assists and seven blocks on her way to earning All-Tournament Honors for the second consecutive year. Fellow senior Katie Schneider (West Bend, Wis.) tallied 63 assists and 21 digs for UWM.

UWM's record fell to 25-3 on the season, the best mark in school history. The Panthers await the results of the NCAA Tournament pairings on Nov. 29 to see if their stellar performance this season earned them an at-large bid.