Oct. 29, 2005

Box Score |  Notes

DAYTON, Ohio - Melissa David tallied a career-best 21 kills and Rachel Kuebbing added 16 as the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee claimed a 30-21, 30-26, 30-28 win over Wright State Saturday afternoon.

The Panthers (17-7, 9-2 Horizon) have now won 10-straight matches and moved into sole possession of first place in the Horizon League, one-half match ahead of idle Cleveland State.

Sarah Moore contributed 11 kills and Leanne Felsing had 10 for UWM, which hit .349 for the match. Melissa Lange directed the effective attack with 53 assists.

Sarah Poling had 16 kills to lead the Raiders (8-15, 4-7), who hit .278 for the match and didn't commit a hitting error in the second game but still could not overcome the Panthers.

David's 21 kills marked the first time she has ever had more than 20 kills in a collegiate match and tied the fifth-most in a three-game match in school history. She was perfect in the first game - tallying eight kills in eight attempts - and hit .700 for the match while not committing a hitting error.

"Melissa was awesome," UWM head coach Kathy Litzau said. "She was really on in that first game and then just kept it going. She also had some big kills at key times, especially at the end of game three."

UWM dominated the first game, building a 17-11 edge on a kill by Cheryl Hegemann before David took over. She had three kills down the stretch to push the lead to 28-19 before an ace by Breit Nelson and a solo block by Hegemann gave the Panthers the early edge in the match.

The Panthers won game two without any help from the Raiders, who didn't make an error in the game. But, UWM recorded 27 points on kills and got its other three points on aces. The Panthers seemed to be in control midway through the frame, building a 19-10 lead after two kills by Kuebbing. The Raiders came all the way back, grabbing one-point leads on two occasions before UWM responded. Back-to-back kills by David gave the Panthers the lead for good before two aces by Nelson finished things off.

Wright State built a quick 6-1 lead in the third game and held the edge until the Panthers used a quick run to grab a 22-18 advantage. Wright State fought back, though, and looked poised to extend the match in building a 28-26 lead. But, three kills by David and a block by Hegemann and Lange gave UWM the game and the match.

"It was definitely an offensive match," Litzau said. "We really had to earn the win, and we earned every point in that second game. It was good to see our outsides step up in the match when we were struggling some in the middle."

UWM returns to action Tuesday night, welcoming crosstown rival Marquette to the Klotsche Center for the final home match of the year. It begins at 7 p.m.