Sept. 16, 2005

Box Score |  Notes

CINCINNATI, Ohio - A spirited rally from a 2-0 deficit by the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee fell just short Friday night, as Cincinnati rebounded to claim a 30-18, 30-20, 31-33, 20-30, 15-13 win and the championship of the State Farm Bearcat Invitational.

Cincinnati (5-4) scored the final two points of the decisive fifth frame to win the match.

After dropping the first two games by wide margins, the Panthers (7-5) turned the match around, pulling out a tight third game before controlling game four. In the decisive fifth frame, Cincinnati led by as many as three points before UWM rallied, tying the game at 12 and again at 13, both times on kills by Rachel Kuebbing. But, the Bearcats scored the next two points, including the match-winner on a UWM setting error, to claim the win.

Leanne Felsing led the way for UWM with her sixth triple-double of the season, tallying 19 kills, 14 digs and 44 assists. In all, five Panthers reached double figures in kills, with Kuebbing adding 16, Sarah Moore and Cheryl Hegemann 13 apiece and Monica Ferguson 11. Becky Peters continued her stellar defensive play with a team-high 26 digs.

UC boasted a balanced attack, as well. Maria Pongonis led the Bearcats with 17 kills, with Jenny Custer and Erin Maldo adding 15 kills, Jessie Nevitt 13 and Myanna Hellsten 11.

"It was nice to see us start to play after the second game. We hadn't really played well since the trip to Virginia two weeks ago, and we did in the second half of the match tonight," UWM head coach Kathy Litzau said. "In game five, we had a couple of mental errors that cost us. We had the momentum and we were in control, but we just let it get away."

After dropping the first two games, UWM fought back to win a tight third frame. UC rebounded from an early deficit to build a 24-20 advantage. The Panthers recovered, pulling within 26-25 on a Felsing kill before tying the game at 27 on a kill by Kuebbing. UWM had a game-point chance at 29-28 and UC had two chances to wrap up the match after that, but kills by Kuebbing and Moore and a block by Moore and Hegemann gave the Panthers the game.

UWM won the fourth game in impressive fashion, pulling away for a 10-point victory. The Panthers took the lead for good at 5-4 on a Hegemann kill and quickly pushed the lead to 11-4 with a string of seven-straight points. After the Bearcats pulled back to within 12-11, UWM ran off three-straight points for a 15-11 lead and then used another six-point run to claim a 24-14 advantage. That decisive run featured three kills from Felsing. UWM then closed out the game on a block by Ferguson and Nicole Vilter and a UC hitting error.

Cincinnati was dominant in the first game from start to finish, jumping to a 12-2 lead and never looking back. The Panthers did pull within 16-8 on a block by Hegemann and Moore and again within 18-10 on a kill by Felsing, but UWM would get no closer. The UC lead hit 22-10 on a UWM error and the Bearcats then led by as many as 13 down the stretch before wrapping up the frame on another Panther error.

The Panthers were more competitive in the second game, rebounding from a slow start to pull within 7-3 on a Felsing kill and again to within 12-8 on a block by Felsing and Moore. UC pulled back out to a 16-8 edge before UWM rallied again, closing the gap to 17-14 on a Bearcat hitting error. But that was as close as the Panthers would get, as a kill by Nevitt made it 23-15 and another Nevitt kill extended the edge to 26-17. A kill by Maldo then closed out the frame for UC.

UWM has a full week off before starting its Horizon League season on the road. The Panthers, the pre-season pick to win the league title, plays at UIC next Friday night and at Loyola next Saturday afternoon.