Sept. 24, 2003

Box Score

MILWAUKEE - Sarah Potts had a career-high 24 kills and Karen Fruit added 18 as the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee claimed a 30-28, 28-30, 30-23, 27-30, 15-11 win over Marquette Wednesday night in front of 603 fans at the Klotsche Center.

The Panthers (11-3) have now beaten their crosstown rivals six-straight times.

UWM rallied from an early deficit to win the decisive fifth game. After trailing 3-0, the Panthers rallied to grab a 6-4 lead on a Cheryl Hegemann service ace. Marquette tied the match at seven but UWM rolled off the next five points to build a 12-7 lead. After the Golden Eagles (3-10) pulled within 12-10, kills by Potts and Hegemann and a Marquette error sealed the win for the Panthers.

Theresa Coughlin had 23 kills while Erin Freer added 16 for Marquette.

Games one and two of the match were extremely tight before the Panthers appeared to take control late in game three, winning convincingly. They held a five-point lead midway through game four before Marquette rallied to force a fifth game.

"We just could not get in a groove," UWM head coach Kathy Litzau said. "Their serves really kept us out of our offense and their outside hitters kept us off-balance. But the bottom line is that we got the 'W'. We fought through it and made enough plays down the stretch to win."

Robin Alt led the Panthers defensively with a career-high 22 kills while Fruit added 21. Five players reached double figures in digs for Marquette, including three players with 18 apiece.

After the two teams split an even first two games, UWM used a late surge to win game three. The score was tied at 16-apiece before the Panthers rolled off four-straight points for a 20-16 lead and Marquette would never get any closer than three points the rest of the way. A kill by Potts made it 24-18 and an ace by Fruit pushed the lead to 25-18. The Panthers then closed out the game on another Potts kill and a Marquette error.

UWM built a 20-15 lead in game four and appeared to be on their way to the win before the Golden Eagles turned things around. They tied the match at 20 on a kill by Freer and then took the lead at 24-23 on a kill by Ann Lopata. The lead hit 27-24 on a kill by Coughlin and then Marquette closed out the game on a UWM error.

Rachel Kuebbing added 12 kills and Larissa Cattanach 11 for the Panthers, who hit .214 for the match and totaled 31 hitting errors. Marquette hit .221 for the match and had 30 errors of their own.

The Panthers now turn to Horizon League play, opening the league slate Friday at the Klotsche Center against Cleveland State. The match begins at 7 p.m.

"We certainly need to be better for Cleveland State," Litzau said. "We talked about how Marquette is similar to a lot of our conference opponents. If we don't work hard, this will happen. If we're focused and ready, we'll win."