Nov. 13, 2004

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MILWAUKEE - Karen Fruit celebrated Senior Day in grand fashion Saturday, tallying 26 kills, 19 digs and a school-record eight service aces to give the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee a 27-30, 30-21, 30-25, 30-28 win over Cleveland State and the outright Horizon League regular season title.

Fruit, the only senior on a Panther squad that has now won two-straight league titles and 11-straight matches this season, also surpassed her own school record for kills in a season during the match, which UWM won after fighting past a slow start and a determined Cleveland State squad.

Rachel Kuebbing added 14 kills while Cheryl Hegemann and Sarah Moore had eight kills apiece for the Panthers (19-7, 13-1 Horizon), who will receive a bye into the semifinals of next weekend's Horizon League Tournament in Youngstown, Ohio.

Jamie Bouyer recorded 18 kills and Julie Stover added 12 for the Vikings (13-12, 6-8), who have now lost 21-straight matches to the Panthers.

UWM has now won six Horizon League regular season titles under Kathy Litzau and is 91-11 in league play over the last eight seasons. But this year's team, with just one senior and three freshmen playing in the regular rotation, used a steady improvement to win 15 of its last 16 matches.

"I think this team has exceeded expectations," Litzau said. "They have continued to get better throughout the season. There were some bumps along the way, but we are better than we were even a few weeks ago. The great thing is we can get even better. We have definitely not peaked."

While UWM has tried to become less reliant on Fruit as the season progressed, she left little doubt Senior Day would belong to her. In addition to her stellar kill and dig totals, the school-record-tying eight aces came one day after she recorded seven aces in a three- game win over Youngstown State.

"It was all about Karen Fruit tonight," Litzau said. "Some players were off and Karen made up for it in every way, with her offense, her defense and her serving. Players like Karen Fruit just don't come along very often, combining the physical with the mental. She gives 100 percent in everything she does and plays hard in every practice and every match.

"For it to be up to her on Senior Night, and for her to do it, is just a testament to how hard she has worked to get where she is."

The win was definitely hard work for the Panthers, who rebounded from 11 errors in game one to even the match by winning game two. UWM used a late surge to claim game three and then won a tense game four, rebounding from a 28-27 deficit to win on a kill by Kuebbing, an ace by Fruit and a kill by Melissa David.

UWM returns to action next Saturday in the semifinals of the Horizon League Tournament. The Panthers' opponent and match time is still to be determined.