Aug. 26, 2005

Box Score |  Notes

IOWA CITY, Iowa - Leanne Felsing recorded a triple-double as the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee claimed a 30-19, 39-37, 30-19 win over Drake in the opening match of the Holiday Inn Hawkeye Classic.

Felsing, splitting time between setter and outside hitter, tallied 15 kills, 15 digs and 21 assists while hitting .483. Cheryl Hegemann added 12 kills and 10 digs while Sarah Moore contributed 11 kills in UWM's season opener.

The Panthers (1-0) hit .273 as a team while limiting Drake to a .102 hitting percentage.

Eve Johnson and Lindsey Johnson had nine kills apiece to lead the Bulldogs (0-1).

"It was a combination of our middle attack and Leanne that really did it for us tonight," UWM head coach Kathy Litzau said. "Leanne was everywhere with her triple-double and Cheryl and Sarah both had strong efforts."

UWM started game one slowly, falling down 9-1 and 11-2. But from there the Panthers dominated, outscoring the Bulldogs, 28-8. A 12-0 run turned a 13-7 deficit into a 19-7 lead and UWM never looked back. Two kills by Hegemann closed out the game.

Game two was tight throughout, with the Panthers trailing by as many as four points early before rallying to take a 27-24 lead on a Melissa David kill. UWM couldn't hang on, though, as Drake tied the frame at 29 on a kill by Eve Johnson. From there, the two teams traded game-point opportunities, with the Panthers finally closing things out on back-to-back kills by Felsing.

The Panthers then wasted little time in closing out the match, controlling game three from start to finish. UWM jumped to a 9-3 edge and never let Drake get closer than three points the rest of the way. A kill by Jamie Gabrielsen pushed the lead to 20-13 and a kill by Moore made it 22-14. Two more kills by Gabrielsen edged the lead to 28-19 before a David service ace closed out the match.

"We did a nice job of recovering in game one and then game two was just a really good game," Litzau said. "We seemed to settle in during game three and really play our game, plus they made a lot more errors."

Melissa Lange added a double-double of 22 assists and 11 digs for the Panthers while freshman Becky Peters made her UWM debut with 12 digs.

UWM returns to action Saturday, facing the hosts from the University of Iowa. The match begins at noon.