Sept. 5, 2003

Box Score

TOLEDO, Ohio - The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee continued its impressive start to the 2003 season with an easy 30-21, 30-21, 30-18 win over LaSalle Friday night at the Clarion Westgate Rocket Classic.

The Panthers (5-0) have won all five matches they have played by 3-0 scores and are now 2-0 in the Rocket Classic. UWM will look to win its second-consecutive tournament title Saturday against Toledo.

Friday night, junior Karen Fruit again led the way with 18 kills and a .586 hitting percentage. Larissa Cattanach added 11 kills while hitting .647 and Rachel Kuebbing tallied 10 kills.

Lindsey Spoden had 45 assists while directing the Panthers to a .381 hitting percentage, including .567 in game three. Robin Alt and Sarah Potts led the defensive efforts with eight digs apiece.

"It was a really good overall team effort," UWM head coach Kathy Litzau said. "We definitely played better as the day went on after starting slow earlier in the day. I expect the competition against Toledo will be better on Saturday but we'll have a lot to play for in trying to win another tournament."

The Panthers' match with Toledo starts at 2 p.m. CT Saturday.