Sept. 3, 2004

Box Score |  Notes

DEKALB, Ill. - Karen Fruit tallied a career-high 30 kills to lead the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee to a 30-26, 24-30, 30-24, 30-26 win over Northern Illinois Friday night on the opening day of the Comfort Inn and Suites Invitational.

Fruit's 30 kills tied for the second-most in a four-game match in UWM's Division I history and are the most by a Panther since Laura Dallenbach had 30 at DePaul in October of 2000.

Fruit dominated the third and fourth games of the contest. After collecting just seven kills in the first two games, she tallied 11 kills in game three and 12 more in game four to help her surpass her previous career-best of 26.

Freshman Leanne Felsing added 13 kills and 10 digs for the Panthers (2-0) while Jamie Gabrielson led the way with 19 digs.

Tera Lobdell led the Huskies (1-1) with 22 kills.

After the two teams split the first two games, Fruit, with plenty of help from Felsing and Monica Ferguson, among others, led the Panthers to wins in game three and four.

"I'm most proud of how we turned it around after game two," UWM head coach Kathy Litzau said. "Karen turned it on and Leanne really sparked us right away in game three. I was so excited with how we came back out after the break. We focused on giving every hitter their best shot and it really helped us get more good offensive opportunities.

Ferguson stepped in after having played in just two matches last year to collect three kills and four blocks in games three and four. Plus, Fruit turned unstoppable as the match progressed.

"She really played like a leader," Litzau said. "I actually felt like she got better as the match went on. It's a very good sign when your senior leader heats up in a tight match."

UWM overcame an early deficit to win game one. The Panthers trailed 9-5 following a service ace by Marie Zidek and still found themselves down 12-8 after the teams traded three points each. The rally started from there, as UWM evened the game at 13 on a Felsing kill and grabbed a 15-14 advantage on a Huskie hitting error. NIU pushed back, rallying to claim a 21-19 lead following a block of a Felsing attack. But, the Panthers responded with four-straight points to build a 23-21 advantage and the Huskies could never regain the lead. They did tie the game at 25 apiece on a UWM hitting error, but a Fruit kill gave the Panthers the lead for good and another kill by Fruit combined with an NIU hitting error gave the first game to Milwaukee.

Northern Illinois rallied to claim game two by building a big lead and then hanging on. The game got away from the Panthers after they built a 10-8 lead on a Cheryl Hegemann kill. The Huskies grabbed the lead for good at 13-12 and quickly built it to 19-13 following back-to-back blocks. The lead grew to 24-14 before the Panthers started to rally, pulling within 25-19 on a Rachel Kuebbing kill and eventually to within 27-23 on a block by Kuebbing and Molly McNab. But NIU recovered, scoring three of the final four points of the game to even the match.

The Panthers took control of the third game at the midway point. After Milwaukee led 8-5 early on, NIU rallied to take a 10-9 lead. The Panthers took the lead back for good at 15-14 on a Fruit kill and turned it into a six-point run for a 20-14 advantage. NIU rallied to within four points on seven occasions and even to within three points once, but the Panthers never gave up control. Late kills by Fruit and Ferguson and a NIU error wrapped up the game for the Panthers.

It looked like UWM would also take control of game four at the midway point, building a 16-13 following a kill by Monica Ferguson. But NIU rallied, using a quick, three-point run to take a 23-20 advantage. Then, an NIU error and back-to-back aces by Felsing tied the game at 23. The Panthers then broke a 25-all tie with five of the match's final six points, three of those points coming on kills by Fruit.

The Panthers continue play in the Comfort Inn and Suites Invitational Saturday at 3 p.m. against seventh-ranked Washington. The Huskies easily handled Horizon League foe Butler, 3-0, in play earlier on Friday.