Nov. 11, 2000

MILWAUKEE - The UWM women's volleyball team earned a share of the Midwestern Collegiate Conference regular season championship with a 15-7, 15-4, 15-11 win over Cleveland State Saturday afternoon at the Klotsche Center.

If Loyola beats Butler later today, UWM (22-3, 11-1 MCC) will hold the second seed for next weekend's MCC Tournament, and will open post-season play with another matchup against Cleveland State.

"It was nice to take care of business in three games," coach Kathy Litzau said. "When the players sat down at the beginning of the year and listed their goals, winning the conference championship was one of them. It's a great accomplishment for a young team. I feel like we've really matured throughout the season, and we've improved a lot throughout the season."

The MCC title is the Panthers' fourth straight league crown. UWM has now won 13 straight matches, the second-longest winning streak under Litzau. The Panthers have also won 44 of their last 45 home matches.

In Saturday's match, junior Laura Dallenbach led the Panthers with 10 kills, and moved into second place all-time at UWM in career digs, recording seven more in the match. Sophomore Tari Boutin added eight kills while hitting .467 for the match. Freshman Lindsey Spoden collected 35 assists and six service aces.

"I felt like Lindsey was really on today," Litzau said. "Tari had a really good match as well."

UWM won game one by breaking free of a 5-5 tie to score 10 of the final 12 points of the game. In game two, the Panthers scored the final seven points, including four on service aces from Spoden. Litzau substituted liberally in game three, and a Julie Yankus kill closed out the match.

The MCC Tournament begins Saturday in Cleveland, Ohio, with an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament on the line. Both the first round and semifinal matches will be played Saturday, with the championship match scheduled for Sunday.

"You never like to play a team three times in one season, but with the conference tournament you have to do that," Litzau said of the likely first round match with the Vikings. "You would certainly rather not face the host team, and the match next weekend will have a lot more on the line."