Sept. 26, 2003

Box Score

MILWAUKEE - Larissa Cattanach had a career-high 23 kills as the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee overcame a sluggish start to record a 34-36, 30-20, 30-21, 30-18 win over Cleveland State Friday night in the opening match of the Horizon League volleyball season.

UWM (12-3, 1-0 Horizon) committed 14 hitting errors in the first game and then just eight in the remaining three games of the match. Karen Fruit added 18 kills, Sarah Potts 12 and Cheryl Hegemann 10 for the Panthers, who beat Cleveland State for the 18th-straight time.

Jamie Bouyer had 15 kills and Danielle Siefker 13 for the Vikings (10-6, 0-1 Horizon).

"I will say the first game is what it is like to be the hunted," UWM head coach Kathy Litzau said. "Cleveland State played great volleyball and everything clicked for them. But we got better as the match went on."

In fact, the Panthers dominated the final three games of the match, hitting .366 in game two, .333 in game three and .405 in game four. They adjusted to the Vikings' plan of defending the outside, consistently feeding middle hitters Cattanach and Hegemann for kills.

"I was impressed with how Larissa and Cheryl really got themselves open," Litzau said. "Their block was really clamped on our outsides. But (outsides) Sarah and Karen really turned it around as the match went on, too."

Defensively, the Panthers were strong. Potts had 17 kills, Melissa Lange 13 and Robin Alt 11. Plus, Hegemann and Lindsey Spoden had five blocks apiece.

Game one included 21 ties and 12 lead changes before Cleveland State overcame two game-points to claim the win. UWM then dominated the second half of game two, turning a 17-16 deficit into a 20-17 lead before never looking back. The Panthers wound up scoring 13 of the final 17 points, including the last four on kills by Potts and Spoden and two CSU attack errors. Game three was tight until the Panthers turned a 10-all tie into a 17-12 lead behind the service of Lange. The lead hit 28-19 on a kill by Fruit before the Panthers finished things off. UWM was never threatened in game four, leading 15-8 and never allowing the Vikings and closer than six points.

UWM returns to action Saturday, hosting Youngstown State in a 2 p.m. contest.