Nov. 3, 2001

Box Score

MILWAUKEE - "Senior Day" never rang so true.

Playing their final regular season home game, the four Panther seniors combined for 54 kills, 59 digs, eight service aces and 49 assists as UWM downed Youngstown St. 27-30, 30-15, 33-31, 30-20 Saturday afternoon at the Klotsche Center.

Laura Dallenbach had 18 kills and 13 digs to lead the Panthers (16-6, 11-2 Horizon League). Julie Yankus added 14 kills and a career-high 23 digs and Chrissy Schurla pitched-in with 14 kills and 17 digs. Moira Coughlin added eight kills to go with a career-high 46 assists.

Rebecca Sylak had 20 kills and 14 digs while Melissa Lyczkowski contributed 46 assists and a match-high 26 digs to lead the Penguins (10-14, 1-11).

The contributions of Dallenbach and Schurla are expected, and Yankus has played in nearly every match of her four-year career. But Coughlin had appeared in just eight matches and 13 games entering today's contest before coming through in place of sophomore Lindsey Spoden, who started the contest.

"People finally got to see during a match what Moira Coughlin has done for four years for this program," UWM coach Kathy Litzau said. "She does so many things for us in practice and she plays very well in practice. She did everything we could have asked of her, and I am just so happy for her."

Litzau also had glowing praise for Yankus, who played quite possibly the best match of her career.

"Julie played great," Litzau said. "Her defense was awesome. There's no question our seniors came through for us."

It looked like a long day for the Panthers after UWM struggled through game one. The Panthers never led in the game, and Youngstown St. pulled away from a 9-9 tie with five straight points. The Penguins led by as many as six points before UWM rallied, pulling to within 25-22. But the Penguins proceeded to score three straight points and then held off a late Panther rally.

UWM then dominated game two, scoring the first four points of the game and building a 20-4 advantage before cruising to the win. Yankus served the Panthers to 10 straight points during the game, taking UWM from a 9-3 advantage to a 19-3 lead.

The Penguins let a chance to regain control of the match slip past them in game three. UWM built an early 15-9 advantage, but Youngstown St. rallied to tie the match at 19 and eventually grab a 23-19 advantage. UWM came back to tie the game at 26 and the game was also tied at 27, 28 and 29. The Penguins had a game-point opportunity up 31-30 following a kill by Kristen Meech, but a Robin Alt kill allowed the game to continue, and UWM won the game on two Penguin errors.

UWM then controlled game four in clinching the match. The Panthers built an early 10-4 advantage, and after Youngstown St. closed to within 13-12, UWM scored six straight points to regain control. The Penguins would never get closer than six points the rest of the way.

"Youngstown played very well and both teams played great defense," Litzau said. "This is how it is going to be at this time of the year, because everyone will be playing to keep their season going. This is how it will be next weekend and this is how it will be at the conference tournament."

The Panthers return to action next week, traveling to Green Bay Friday night to close out league play before heading to Cincinnati for a non-conference match Sunday. UWM then hosts to Horizon League Tournament Nov. 16-18.