Oct. 7, 2005

Box Score |  Quotes |  Notes

MILWAUKEE - Cheryl Hegemann had 14 kills and Monica Ferguson added eight kills off the bench as the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee claimed a 30-23, 30-26, 30-27 win over Cleveland State Friday night at the Klotsche Center.

Melissa David added nine kills for the Panthers (10-7, 3-2 Horizon), who won for the third-straight time and beat the Vikings (9-6, 2-2) for the 22nd time in the last 23 meetings between the two schools.

Nickole Kennedy led Cleveland State with 11 kills.

Ferguson sparked the Panthers after entering the match early in game two. She didn't make an error on the evening in recording the second-most kills of her collegiate career.

"Monica has had some strong matches for us before and we know she can do it, so it was great to see her step up when we needed a spark," UWM head coach Kathy Litzau said. "We really got good efforts from a lot of players again tonight and the difference lately has been that our entire team is getting involved."

The Panthers controlled much of the first game, jumping to a 10-3 advantage following a kill by Rachel Kuebbing. The lead was still 16-10 after a kill by Hegemann and was 23-17 following a kill by Leanne Felsing. CSU fought back, though, scoring four-straight points to pull within 23-21. But UWM responded, scoring three-straight points to regain control before a kill by Melissa Lange closed things out in favor of the Panthers.

UWM then pulled out an error-filled second game. The Panthers looked like they might take control, turning an 11-9 deficit into a 17-13 lead. Eventually the UWM lead hit 22-16 on a CSU error, but the Vikings weren't done. They scored the next five points, with four coming on UWM errors, to pull within 22-21. The Panthers pushed back, though, rebuilding a 25-21 lead on a block by Hegemann and Lange and then used late kills by Hegemann and Ferguson to take a 2-0 lead in the match.

The Panthers then won a hard-fought third game with a late push. The Vikings led much of the early part of the match, trailed through the middle and then fought back to tie the frame at 27 on a kill by Jenni Ramminger. But, UWM scored the final three points to claim the match, scoring twice on kills by David before a setting error by Ramminger finished things off.

"Cleveland State did a nice job of fighting back and making some quick runs," Litzau said. "We also missed a lot of serves tonight (nine), which is uncharacteristic. But we overcame those kinds of errors and made a lot of good plays."

UWM continues its homestand Saturday afternoon, welcoming Youngstown State to the Klotsche Center for a 4 p.m. contest.