Sept. 14, 2002

Box Score

MILWAUKEE - Larissa Cattanach collected 15 kills and was named to the all-tournament team as UWM snapped a six-match losing streak with a 30-25, 30-28, 30-20 win over DePaul Saturday night in the final match of the Blue Demon Invitational.

Karen Fruit and Sarah Potts added 11 kills for the Panthers (2-7) while Kristen Krubsack had a season-high 19 digs. Lindsey Spoden had 12 digs and 38 assists. UWM hit a season-high .254 for the match, including .364 in game one and .314 in game three.

Janet Goreham had 11 kills and Lara Marks 10 to lead the Blue Demons (2-7).

"I think it's the best we've played all year. Certainly DePaul made some errors, but we forced a lot of them," UWM head coach Kathy Litzau said. "DePaul is similar to teams in our conference. The teams we've been playing have been bigger and more athletic. That prepared us for this match tonight. This team believed they had it in them. When you're not winning that can be hard, but this team believed. We made big strides this weekend."

UWM played some of its best volleyball of the young season in controlling game one from the outset. The Panthers bolted to a 12-4 advantage on the strength of three kills from Potts and two kills from Spoden and Rachel Kuebbing. The Blue Demons would rally to within three points on a number of occasions, but each time UWM responded. At 16-13, a Fruit kill pushed the lead back to four, while on later occasions kills by Cattanach and Molly McNab helped maintain the lead. DePaul finally narrowed the gap to 26-24, but the Panthers responded on a kill by Cattanach before closing out the game on back-to-back service aces by Fruit.

The Panthers had to come from behind to win game two. The Blue Demons led by as many as three points early in the game and still maintained a 23-20 advantage late in the game. But UWM rallied, scoring four-straight points - including kills by Cattanach and Fruit and an ace by Kuebbing - to grab a 24-23 lead. Following ties at 24, 26 and 27, UWM closed out the game on kills by Potts and Spoden and a Blue Demon service error.

UWM also controlled game three, building a quick 5-0 advantage. After the Blue Demons closed to within 7-4, the Panthers ran back to an 11-5 lead behind kills from Cattanach and Spoden. DePaul once more pulled back to within 14-12, but UWM seized control from there. A pair of kills by Cattanach made it 18-13 and three-straight service aces by Kuebbing pushed the lead to 21-13. UWM's lead hit 25-16 on a Kuebbing kill and 27-16 on a Potts kill. The Panthers then closed out the match on a kill by McNab.

The Panthers return to action next weekend, playing in the Radisson Invitational in Kalamzoo, Mich. UWM will face Western Michigan Friday at 6:30 p.m. CDT before facing South Florida and Syracuse on Saturday.