Nov. 6, 2004

Box Score |  Notes

MILWAUKEE - Karen Fruit had 15 kills and Leanne Felsing added 14 as the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee claimed a 30-28, 30-15, 30-27 win over Wright State Saturday afternoon at the Klotsche Center.

Fruit and Felsing each had double-doubles, as Fruit tallied 13 digs and Felsing added 12.

The win keeps the Panthers (17-7, 11-1 Horizon) alone in first place in the Horizon League. UWM has won nine-straight matches and 13 of its last 14.

Lisa Griffiths and Sarah Poling had 10 kills apiece for the Raiders (4-23, 2-10).

After claiming a big win over Butler Friday night, the Panthers were sluggish on Saturday. They hit just .104 in the first game and just .239 in the third game but found enough for the victory.

"Last night's match was such an emotional and physical win and we played so well," UWM head coach Kathy Litzau said. "It can be hard sometimes to mentally prepare for that next match, especially against an opponent who doesn't have a very good record. We weren't very crisp. We were frantic and weren't very smooth.

"Leanne was awesome, though. She was very steady throughout the match, very focused on defense and she picked up a lot of balls."

UWM's defense at the net was also a key, as the Panthers tallied 11 blocks, led by five apiece from Sarah Moore and Rachel Kuebbing.

"At the beginning of the match we could not stop their attack," Litzau said. "We did correct that some as the match went on. Our movement was not that good, though."

UWM had to struggle to win game one, overcoming a sluggish start to finally pull it out. Wright State had a 10-7 lead after a UWM error but the Panthers scored the next six points for a 13-10 lead. UWM extended the advantage to 19-15 following a Felsing kill but Wright State rallied, taking a 25-24 lead on a Tara Geegan kill. The Raiders still led 28-27 after a Poling kill but the Panthers scored the next three points to secure the win. Two kills by Felsing and a block by Moore and Melissa Lange finished things off for the Panthers.

The Panthers controlled game two, jumping to a 13-4 advantage following eight-straight points. The Raiders pulled back to within 14-7 but would never get any closer. A block by Cheryl Hegemann and Kuebbing extended the lead to 24-11 and a kill by Felsing made it 27-14. A kill by Fruit wrapped up the frame for the Panthers.

UWM tied to pull away in game three. The lead was only 15-14 in favor of UWM midway through the frame, but the Panthers scored eight of the next nine points in an attempt to take control. The Raiders did rally to pull within 27-23 after four-straight points and eventually got within 29-27. But a kill by Felsing closed out the game and the match for the Panthers.

UWM wraps up the regular season next weekend, hosting Youngstown State and Cleveland State at the Klotsche Center.