Nov. 17, 2001

Box Score

MILWAUKEE - UWM will play for a berth in the NCAA Tournament on its home floor.

The Panthers downed UWGB 30-28, 30-19, 30-26 in a Horizon League Tournament semifinal Saturday afternoon at the Klotsche Center, moving one win away from a fourth-straight trip to the NCAA Tournament.

Tari Boutin and Laura Dallenbach had 12 kills apiece to lead UWM (19-7) to its 16th straight win over the Phoenix. The Panthers will face the winner of the second semifinal between Butler and Loyola Sunday at 3 p.m.

Also with the win, UWM's senior class of Dallenbach, Chrissy Schurla, Julie Yankus and Moira Coughlin became the winningest senior class in school history, collecting win number 92 of their careers.

"With everything on the line tomorrow I don't think my team will need a crowd, but we know being on our home floor we're going to have one," head coach Kathy Litzau said. "I was very happy with how we fought today, especially down the stretch in game three. That's a sign of a team ready to win a championship."

The Panthers appeared to have their hands full with the Phoenix (13-15), who upset third-seeded Wright St. in the quarterfinals Friday. UWM fell down 8-1 in game one before recovering, eventually tying the match at 8-all. There were six more ties in the game before the Panthers won the game on kills from Boutin and Chrissy Schurla.

UWM controlled game two, hitting .462 in bolting to an 18-9 lead. UWGB would get no closer than seven points the rest of the way, and the Panthers scored their final three points of the game on kills by Boutin.

UWGB looked like it might extend the match in game three, building a 12-8 lead following a kill by Crystal Nucech. The lead grew to 16-11 before the Panthers ran off five straight points off of Robin Alt's serve. The game was then tied at 21, 24, 25 before UWGB took a 26-25 advantage. From there, UWM scored the final five points of the game to win the match.

"I was really happy with how we played," Litzau said. "We earned it. When our passing broke down, we broke down, but that didn't happen too often."

UWM also controlled the potent service game of UWGB, in particular Janelle Tomlinson, who set an NCAA record with 15 service aces in a match earlier this season. The Panthers allowed Tomlinson just one ace, and UWGB scored just one point off of Tomlinson's serve after the first game.

The Panthers will be seeking their second conference tournament title in tomorrow's championship match, with their last coming in 1999. UWM is also aiming for a fifth-straight 20-win season.