Oct. 8, 2005

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MILWAUKEE - Cheryl Hegemann and Sarah Moore each tallied career-highs in kills as the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee claimed a 30-25, 24-30, 30-22, 28-30, 15-11 win over Youngstown State Saturday afternoon at the Klotsche Center.

Hegemann had 28 kills and Moore added 18 as the Panthers (11-7, 4-2 Horizon) survived a spirited upset bid by the Penguins (7-10, 0-5) to claim their season-best fourth-straight win.

The match was filled with lengthy rallies, as both teams had more than 200 attack attempts and each team reached triple-digits in digs. Becky Peters led UWM with 24 digs while Jamie Gabrielsen added 22 and Leanne Felsing 21.

Abby Ettenhofer had 20 kills and hit .514 to lead Youngstown State. Angie Pasquinelli had 21 digs to lead the Penguins' defense.

UWM captured the win with two strong bursts in the decisive fifth game. The Panthers scored seven of the first eight points in the game and, after the Penguins rallied to tie the game at 10, UWM finished out the match with five of the final six points. A kill by Leanne Felsing, a YSU attack error and a kill by Hegemann finished things off.

"It was nice we got that lead in the fifth game but we sat back and let them back in it," UWM head coach Kathy Litzau said. "If there is anything we should have learned from the match today it is that we can't sit back on the lead. Youngstown played well and didn't make a lot of errors, but people came through when we needed it."

The two teams split the first two games, each side using late runs to break open close contests. In the first frame, UWM led just 23-22 after back-to-back errors. But, the Panthers scored four of the next five points, capped by a Melissa David ace, to grab a 27-23 lead. Then, after YSU pulled back to within 28-25, two kills by Monica Ferguson closed things out for the Panthers.

In game two, YSU led most of the way, though UWM closed to within 25-24 on a kill by Felsing. But, the Penguins took control from there, scoring the next five points to even the match. Two UWM errors and two kills by Ettenhofer finished things off for YSU.

UWM seemed to take control of the match with a dominating win in game three. The Panthers jumped to a 9-2 lead and still led 20-14 following a YSU error. The Penguins did score the next point to pull within five but would get no closer in the game. Two kills by Moore and a kill by Hegemann made it 25-18 and a kill by Gabrielsen wrapped up the frame.

YSU then claimed a tight game four that included 13 ties. The final tie came at 28-all after the Penguins had rallied from a late three-point deficit. Back-to-back kills by Crystal Duncan then gave YSU then win and pushed the match to a fifth game.

UWM returns to action Wednesday night with a non-league match at DePaul. Then Friday night the Panthers host UW-Green Bay at the U.S. Cellular Arena. The match, part of Panther FAN-tastic Friday, begins at 7 p.m.