Nov. 11, 2005

Box Score |  Notes

GREEN BAY, Wis. - Rachel Kuebbing had 21 kills and Melissa David added 13 kills as the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee claimed 30-26, 33-31, 30-23 win over UW-Green Bay Friday night in the regular season finale for both teams.

The Panthers (20-8, 12-2 Horizon) had already clinched the Horizon League regular season title and top seed for next week's league tournament, but won their 12th-straight league match and secured a 20-win season for the eighth time in the last nine seasons.

Sarah Moore had 10 kills without an error for Milwaukee, while Melissa Lange directed the offense with 48 assists. Becky Peters also reached double figures in digs for the 28th-straight match, tallying an amazing 29 digs in the three-game win.

Jill Smits led UW-Green Bay (14-14, 6-8 Horizon) with 10 kills, but the Phoenix hit just .113 for the match and were slowed by 13 UWM blocks.

"It was a very good effort and a nice way to finish off the regular season," UWM head coach Kathy Litzau said. "Rachel was fantastic all night and Sarah was very steady. We had a bit of a bobble in that second game but we came back strong in the third game to finish things off."

UWM used a late surge to win game one. The Panthers lead was just 23-21 after an error, but they scored four of the next five points to take control of the frame. Back-to-back kills by Kuebbing pushed the lead to 29-23 and, after a brief Green Bay run, a kill by Felsing finished things off.

The Panthers then pulled out game two. Two late kills by Kuebbing and one by Moore helped extend the match before back-to-back kills by David and Cheryl Hegemann wrapped things up for Milwaukee.

UWM then had an easier time of things in game three, opening up a 22-16 lead on kills by David and Moore and a UWGB error. The Phoenix got no closer than five points the rest of the way, and kills by Kuebbing and Moore gave the Panthers the match.

As the top seed for next week's league tournament, UWM receives a bye into the semifinals, which will be played Saturday afternoon. The full bracket for the tournament, which starts Thursday night at the Flames Athletic Center in Chicago, will be set after league regular season play concludes Saturday afternoon.