Sept. 2, 2005

Box Score |  Notes

BLACKSBURG, Va. - Cheryl Hegemann tallied a career-high 23 kills and Leanne Felsing recorded her third triple-double of the season, but Mississippi State escaped with a 30-28, 38-36, 24-30, 34-32 win over the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Friday in the opening match of the Hokie Fall Invitational.

The Panthers (2-2) led most of the way in each of the four frames, but fell victim to late rallies by the Bulldogs (2-0) in each of the games they lost. In fact, UWM held a seven-point lead in the first game and had multiple game-point opportunities in games two and four.

Hegemann added 18 digs in her best outing as a Panther. Felsing totaled 14 kills, 16 assists and 20 digs, becoming the first UWM player in the school's Division I history to record three triple-doubles in a season. Molly McNab contributed 11 kills and eight blocks.

Orshi Kriegel recorded 23 kills to lead the Bulldogs.

"It was a great volleyball match and we did a lot of very good things. Mississippi State just made a few more plays late in games than we did," UWM head coach Kathy Litzau said. "We certainly had our opportunities. Cheryl played great and received a lot of support from a lot of people. Molly McNab really stepped up and played one of the strongest matches of her career. Leanne came on offensively in games three and four and we did a great job blocking at the net."

UWM came very close to forcing a fifth game, building a 26-24 lead in the fourth game on a Rachel Kuebbing kill. The lead was 28-26 following a Felsing kill and, after two-straight Bulldog points, a Moore kill made it 29-28. But, UWM could not capitalize on that game-point opportunity and then had to fight off match-point chances from there. They did so successfully three times, but kills by Rachel Cooper and Eva Kriegel closed things out for MSU.

UWM started the match quickly, jumping to 12-7 lead on a block by Moore and Melissa David. The lead grew to 16-10 on a Moore kill and to 19-12 on a block by McNab and David. MSU finally overcame the lead late, tying the game at 23 on a block and before taking the lead for good on a kill by Nicole Palazzo. The lead was 28-24 before UWM rallied again, pulling within a point at 28-27 on an MSU hitting error. A kill by Kuebbing kept UWM within a point at 29-28, but a kill by Orshi Kriegel closed out the frame.

Game two was agonizing for UWM. The Panthers led 29-27 following a Bulldog service error but gave up three-straight points to extend the game. UWM had three more game-points while MSU had five, finallly closing things out on kills by Cooper and Orshi Kriegel.

UWM did control the third game nearly from start-to-finish. The Panthers took the lead for good at 9-8 on a Lange ace and led 15-11 following a Felsing kill. The Bulldogs did pull within one point three different times, but UWM finished the frame with six of the final seven points to get back in the match.

The Panthers continue play in the Hokie Fall Invitational Saturday, squaring off with the hosts from Virginia Tech at noon EDT before facing Georgetown at 5 p.m. EDT.