Sept. 10, 1999

Milwaukee - The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee opened the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Panther Invitational with pair of wins, bringing its record to 6-0?its best season start since turning Division I in 1990.

In its first match of the day, UWM took Duquesne, 3-1. The Panthers went on to sweep Marshall, 3-0, later that night.

In their first match-up vs. Duquesne, the Panthers took the first game, 15-9, but fell in the second game, 12-15. They came back to take game three, 15-2, and game four, 15-5. The Panthers were led by sophomore Laura Dallenbach with 16 kills, 13 digs and a .400 hitting percentage. Sophomore Chrissy Schurla followed with 15 kills and 8 digs, while senior Ericka Malterer had 14 kills and 12 digs.

In its second match of the day, UWM took game one, 15-12, but struggled in game two, coming back to take the game, 17-15. The Panthers came back strong in the third game, easily defeating Marshall, 15-6, to take the match. Malterer led the Panthers with 21 kills, 12 digs and a .447 hitting percentage. Schurla and Dallenbach followed with 14 and 11 kills respectively.

Senior setter Katie Schneider marked her 4,000th career assist during the Duquesne match, standing at 4,098 career assists after the Marshall match. She already holds the school career assist record with last year?s 3,808 mark.

The Panthers will resume action tomorrow against IUPUI at 1 p.m. in the Klotsche Center. They will take on the Eastern Illinois Panthers at 7 p.m. IUPUI lost both of its matches today, while EIU is 2-0 so far in Invitational play.