Oct. 1, 2005

Box Score |  Quotes |  Notes

MILWAUKEE - Leanne Felsing had 16 kills and Melissa David added 14 as the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee tallied a convincing 30-19, 30-26, 30-19 win over Butler Saturday afternoon at the Klotsche Center.

The Panthers (9-7, 2-2 Horizon) were in control much of the time in winning their second-straight match. They had 54 kills in the match and limited Butler (7-9, 2-2) to a .094 hitting percentage.

Freshman Becky Peters sparked the defensive effort with 21 digs while Felsing had 10 digs for another double-double. UWM also got strong contributions from Sarah Moore (nine kills), Rachel Kuebbing (eight kills) and Melissa Lange (44 assists, seven digs).

Susana Henri had 12 kills to lead the Bulldogs, who lost for the second-straight time and haven't beaten the Panthers in Milwaukee since 1995.

Felsing and David combined for just one hitting error in the match, with Felsing hitting .640 and David hitting .542. For David, it was the third-straight match where she reached double figures in kills. Felsing, meanwhile, overcame an abdominal muscle injury that has limited her ability to set and had her questionable for this weekend's matches to record the second-best hitting percentage of her college career.

"Melissa David really made some strong contributions. We really needed something after last weekend and she was outstanding," Litzau said. "She was also the bright spot at Loyola last weekend, so she has had three consistently strong matches. And, for Leanne to hit .640 while being injured like she is was just amazing."

The Panthers won the first game easily after scoring the first six points of the match. UWM lead grew to 12-4 on a kill by David and hit 14-4 after another kill by David. The Bulldogs rallied to within 16-9 on a UWM error, by kills by Moore and Kuebbing pushed the Panthers advantage back to double figures at 22-12. Butler would get no closer than eight points the rest of the way, and two kills by Cheryl Hegemann helped UWM finish off the frame.

UWM had to fight from behind to win game two. Butler built an early 11-8 advantage and, after the Panthers rallied the tie the game, the Bulldogs rebuilt a 24-21 lead. But UWM, sparked by three kills from Felsing, scored the next five points to take the lead. Butler scored two points to tie the game at 26 before UWM scored the final four points of the game. A Kuebbing kill started the run, followed by a Felsing ace, a Moore kill, and a triple-block by Moore, Kuebbing and Lange.

The Panthers controlled the third game, breaking a 6-all tie by scoring 12 of the next 14 points. Four kills by David and two aces by Lange helped spark the run. The UWM lead hit 22-10 on a kill by Hegemann and was still 27-15 following back-to-back kills by David. The Bulldogs did narrow the gap to 10, but an attack error finished off the game and the match for the Panthers.

"I like this weekend how every hitter was involved," UWM head coach Kathy Litzau said. "We were really on in game one today and everything was perfect. But even when things weren't perfect in the rest of the match, we were much smarter than we have been and we made things happen."

UWM returns to action next weekend, welcoming Cleveland State and Youngstown State to the Klotsche Center.