Oct. 29, 2004

Box Score |  Notes

CHICAGO - Karen Fruit had 25 kills and 22 digs and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee overcame a 2-0 deficit to claim a 27-30, 19-30, 30-24, 30-26, 15-9 win over Loyola Friday night.

The Panthers (14-7, 8-1 Horizon) have now won six-straight matches and remain tied with Butler for first place in the Horizon League.

The Panthers pulled away in game five. They took the lead for good at 8-7 on a Sarah Moore kill and made it 11-8 on another kill by Moore. Moore's third kill of the game made it 13-9 and a kill by Fruit followed by an ace by Jamie Gabrielson gave UWM the come-from-behind win.

Moore wound up with 12 kills, while Leanne Felsing had 15 kills and 11 digs for UWM.

Hilary Stromath led a balanced Loyola attack with 17 kills, but the Ramblers (16-7, 7-3) made 11 errors in the third game and could never wrestle the momentum back in falling two matches back of the Panthers in the league standings.

"It's huge. They go to three losses and we stay at one loss," UWM head coach Kathy Litzau said. "I actually feel like it's one of the best wins I've been a part of because of the way we came back and took the win. We didn't sit back and wait for the other team to give it to us. Plus, I look out on the floor and I see I have three freshmen out there. It's a great sign for the next month and for the years to come."

The Ramblers look as though they were in command after winning the first two games. They won an error-filled game one with the final run in a back and forth frame. The Ramblers led 18-15 following a kill by Kelly Zins but UWM rallied to claim a 20-19 lead on a kill by Moore. The Panthers built the lead to 23-23 on another Moore kill but Loyola pushed back, reclaiming a 25-23 lead on four-straight UWM errors. The Panthers recovered to tie the game at 25, but the Ramblers scored the next point and never relinquished the lead. A pair of UWM errors closed out the frame for Loyola.

The Ramblers broke open the second game en route to an easy win. It was 13-12 Milwaukee after a Loyola error but the Ramblers scored seven of the next eight points for a 19-14 lead. A Felsing kill made it 19-15 before the Ramblers put the game away, scoring the next seven points. A kill by Kathryn Langheld wrapped up the frame for Loyola.

The Panthers got back in the match with a convincing late run in game three. Loyola held its final lead of the frame, 19-18, following a UWM error. But the Panthers quickly built a 23-21 edge on a Felsing kill and expanded the edge to 26-21 on another Felsing kill. The lead hit 28-22 on yet another kill by Felsing and a block by Melissa Lange and Cheryl Hegemann closed out the game for the Panthers.

UWM led nearly all of game four but could never pull away. It wasn't until a kill by Fruit that the Panthers took the lead for good at 25-24. From there, UWM scored the next three points, with another Fruit kill, a Hegemann kill and an ace by Gabrielson giving the Panthers a 28-24 lead. Another Fruit kill and a Loyola error wrapped up the game and evened the match for the Panthers.

UWM wraps up the road portion of its regular season schedule Saturday, traveling back to Chicago for a 7 p.m. contest with UIC.