Oct. 25, 2003

Box Score

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Karen Fruit had 17 kills and Rachel Kuebbing added 16, including the final two of the decisive fifth game, as the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee stayed in first place in the Horizon League with a heart-stopping 31-29, 30-13, 20-30, 24-30, 16-14 win Saturday afternoon.

The Panthers (20-3, 9-0 Horizon) are off to their best league start in school history and have now won 10-straight matches. UWM has also beaten the Vikings (15-12, 2-7) 19-straight times and has won 20 matches for the seventh-straight season.

Cleveland State nearly came all the way back from a 2-0 deficit in the match, but Kuebbing tallied back-to-back kills to break a 14-all tie in the fifth game to give the Panthers the win.

Melissa David and Cheryl Hegemann had eight kills apiece for UWM, which hit .400 in the fifth game. Fruit had 16 digs and Robin Alt 12 to lead the Panthers defensively, who recorded 14.5 blocks as a team.

Jamie Bouyer had 18 kills and Emily Clark 15 for the Vikings.

"We were very good the first two games and Cleveland State was very good in all but the second game," UWM head coach Kathy Litzau said. "Rachel really stepped it up with some crucial kills down the stretch. On the road, you just never know what to expect. We have some players who were down, but others really stepped up for them when it counted."

UWM appeared to have the fifth game under control in building a 9-5 lead following a kill by Cattanach. CSU rallied to within 12-10 but a kill by Fruit eventually rebuilt the lead to 14-11 and put the Panthers on the brink of winning the match. The Vikings scored three-straight points, though, forcing a Panther timeoit. UWM responded with the two kills by Kuebbing to close things out.

It looked like the Panthers would have a relatively easy time after the first two games. UWM did have to fight through game one after building a 25-22 lead late in the frame. Cleveland State tied the game at 29 but UWM closed out the win on a kill by Fruit and a CSU attack error. The Panthers then dominated game two, hitting .423 while limiting the Vikings to a -.121 hitting percentage.

Games three and four were a different story, though, as Cleveland State built an 11-4 lead in the third game before never letting the Panthers any closer than five points the rest of the way. In game four, UWM trailed 19-9 before rallying to within four points. But the Panthers could never get any closer as the Vikings forced the fifth game.

UWM returns to action next Friday night with a crucial showdown at UW-Green Bay. The match starts at 7 p.m.