Sept. 11, 2004

Box Score |  Quotes |  Notes

MILWAUKEE - Rebecca Wieters and Amanda Timmers tallied 15 kills apiece to lead the College of Charleston to a 32-30, 30-21, 34-32 win over the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and the title of the 2004 Powerade Panther Invitational.

The Cougars, who won 28 matches a year ago while claiming the Southern Conference title, finished the weekend's round-robin play at 3-0 while handing the Panthers (4-2) their first loss in the tournament.

Karen Fruit had 15 kills to lead UWM, but the Panthers couldn't overcome 30 attacking errors and 11 service errors.

"We just had way too many errors against a very good team," UWM head coach Kathy Litzau said. "Against some teams you can just keep the ball in and wait for them to make mistakes. But against a team like that, if you give things to them, they will take advantage. They seemed to stretch every one of our errors into a two or three-point run."

Tournament MVP Kaycie Clark directed the Cougar attack with 42 assists and added 10 digs as Charleston hit .225 while limiting the Panthers to just .115

Litzau even made dramatic changes in the lineup to try to spark the Panthers, giving Jamie Gabrielson her first look as an outside hitter and playing reserves Melissa David and Molly McNab extensively.

"We totally changed our lineup because Charleston was a step ahead of us and knew what we were going to do before we did it," Litzau said. "Those that went in did change the match some, but in the end we still didn't have that extra push when we needed it."

The Cougars claimed a tight game one before controlling much of game two. In game one, the Panthers led 12-6 following a kill by Fruit. But the Cougars rebounded, pulling within 13-12 on a kill by Sara Davis and the game stayed tight from there. UWM led 26-24 on a kill by Leanne Felsing but Charleston grabbed a 29-28 lead on a kill by Timmers. The Cougars then had another game point at 30-29 before finally putting the game away. In game two, Charleston bolted to a 16-11 lead before UWM rallied, pulling within 19-18 following kills by Sarah Moore and Felsing. But the Cougars closed out the game on an 11-3 run, including the final six points of the frame.

UWM then had to rally from well back in game three, trailing 16-9 following an attacking error and were still down 25-20 late in the frame. But the strong service of Gabrielson - including two aces - pulled UWM within 27-26 and the Panthers finally tied the game at 29 on a block by Fruit and Moore. UWM then forged ties at 30, 31 and 32 before the Cougars could close it out.

The Panthers return to action next week at the Nokia Sugar Bowl Classic in New Orleans, facing SMU, Tulane and Miami.