Nov. 22, 2002
Box Score
GREEN BAY, Wis. -
Sarah Potts had 11 kills and Horizon League Player of the Year Tari Boutin added 10 as UWM recorded a 30-20, 30-25, 30-25 win over Cleveland State in the quarterfinals of the Horizon League Volleyball Championships Friday afternoon at the Phoenix Sports Center.
The second-seeded Panthers (18-13) will face Wright State in a tournament semifinal Saturday at 2:30 p.m. The Raiders (18-12), seeded sixth in the tournament, upset third-seeded Butler 30-22, 30-27, 30-28 in the first quarterfinal Friday.
Larissa Cattanach and Karen Fruit had eight kills apiece while freshman Rachel Kuebbing added seven as setter Lindsey Spoden (39 assists) directed a balanced UWM attack.
Michelle Iafigliola led the Vikings (18-13) with 13 kills, but UWM's defense limited Cleveland State to a .114 hitting percentage while the Panthers had 11 blocks. Cattanach had six of the blocks while four other players had at least three. Plus, three Panthers landed in double figures in digs with Potts and Boutin recording double-doubles. UWM also limited all-Horizon League performer Jamie Bouyer to 10 kills and a .154 hitting percentage.
"Larissa did a great job on her," UWM head coach Kathy Litzau said. "We got the match-up we wanted in the front row and Larissa was all over her. Everyone really followed the game plan and I was very happy to see that."
UWM gained control of game one early on, bursting out to a 6-1 advantage with two points coming on service aces by Gina Petersen and two points coming on blocks. The lead hit 10-3 on a kill by Spoden and UWM still led 13-6 following a kill by Kuebbing. Cleveland State used a brief run to pull within 17-13, but UWM responded with three-straight points - including an ace by Spoden and a kill by Fruit - to rebuild a 20-13 lead. The Panthers never let the Vikings any closer than seven points the rest of the way and led by as many as 11 points en route to the win.
The Panthers again broke out to an early advantage in the second game, building a 9-4 lead following a kill by Cattanach and eventually pushing the lead to 14-5 after a kill by Fruit. But the Vikings turned the game around with nine-straight points to tie the game at 14. UWM again rebuilt an 18-14 lead before CSU fought back to tie the game at 19. The Panthers took the lead for good, though, at 20-19 on a kill by Potts and led by as many as five points down the stretch. They closed out the game on a service ace by Fruit.
UWM also took control of the third game early on, breaking a 2-all tie by scoring eight of the next 10 points, capping the run on a block by Spoden and Cattanach. The lead grew to 15-8 after back-to-back kills by Boutin and it reached 17-8 on a block by Fruit and Kuebbing. UWM led by as many as 10 and Cleveland State could get no closer than four points the rest of the way.
"We felt like we were in control the whole match and it felt like we knew we were going to win, but we gave away some points we shouldn't have given away," Litzau said. "Some of our play in transition and our swings were less than spectacular. We weren't the best we can be, but we were good enough to win."
Saturday's semifinal will find the Panthers facing a Wright State squad it split with during the regular season. UWM fell in three games in Dayton before scoring a three-game win at the Klotsche Center in October. Today the Raiders rode a dominating performance by Tricia Naseman, who had 20 kills and 21 digs, to their first victory of the year over the Bulldogs (14-18).
"It's really a different team than we've seen in either of the first two matchups," Litzau said of the Raiders, who have been hurt by injuries all season long. "They played really well this afternoon and we'll need to come out fired up and play hard."
Later today, top-seeded Loyola faces eighth-seeded Youngstown State and fourth-seeded UW-Green Bay faces fifth-seeded UIC in other quarterfinal action.
The tournament concludes Sunday at 3 p.m. with the championship match. The winner of the tournament receives an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.
