Aug. 27, 2005

Box Score |  Notes

IOWA CITY, Iowa - The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee rallied from a 2-0 deficit to force a fifth game, but the University of Iowa jumped on the Panthers in that fifth frame to claim a 30-17, 30-18, 19-30, 23-30, 15-5 win Saturday afternoon in the Holiday Inn-Hawkeye Challenge.

Leanne Felsing led the Panthers with her second-straight triple-double, tallying 19 kills, 16 assists and 14 digs. Cheryl Hegemann added 10 kills and eight blocks, but UWM hit just .081 for the match.

The Hawkeyes (1-0) jumped to a 6-0 lead in the decisive fifth frame and, after UWM (1-1) closed to within 10-5, scored the final five points to wrap things up.

Stacy Vitali led a balanced Iowa attack with 14 kills, while Tiana Costanzo added 13 and Catherine Smale 12.

"Iowa just came out on fire in game five after we did a nice job of coming back," UWM head coach Kathy Litzau said. "We were just a little tentative at times, but I was happy to see we responded in games three and four."

Iowa controlled each of the first two games, jumping to an 11-3 lead in game one and a 16-9 lead in game two while never being threatened in either frame.

The Panthers started their rally with a strong performance in game three, jumping to an 18-11 lead on back-to-back aces by Breit Nelson. Four-straight Iowa attack errors pushed the lead to 23-13 and kills by Monica Ferguson and Sarah Moore helped UWM close out the game.

The fourth game followed a similar path, with the Panthers building a 20-11 lead on a kill by Moore. A kill by Melissa David made it 22-13 before the Hawkeyes started to rally, pulling within 23-21 in a kill by Catherine Smale. UWM responded on kills by Hegemann and Ferguson before an ace and two kills by Felsing evened the match.

UWM was never in it in the fifth game, though. The Panthers' brief rally from their early 6-0 deficit was sparked by three kills from Felsing, But two-straight aces by Kelly Fister, kills by Costanzo and Vitali and a UWM attack error sent the Hawkeyes to the win.

UWM returns to action next weekend, playing at Charlotte Thursday night before three matches at the Hokie Invitational Friday and Saturday.