Oct. 18, 2006

Box Score |  Notes

MILWAUKEE - Nicole Vilter and Sarah Moore tallied 11 kills apiece as the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee claimed a 30-16, 30-24, 30-27 win over Oral Roberts Wednesday night at the Klotsche Center, snapping a 15-match winning streak by the Golden Eagles.

Cheryl Hegemann added 10 kills, while Jamie Gabrielsen had nine and Melissa David eight for the Panthers (14-5), who hit .297 for the match.

UWM's defense was again strong, as the Panthers collected 50 digs and nine blocks. Becky Peters led the way with 13 digs while Leanne Felsing added 12 digs to go with 41 assists.

Kim Snow led Oral Roberts (17-7) with 12 kills, while UWM limited two-time Mid-Continent Conference Player of the year Ori Zuzic to just nine kills and a -.048 hitting clip.

"It's a big win for us against a very good team," UWM head coach Kathy Litzau said. "The fact that we did it by shutting down a two-time player of the year is even better. I would like to think we had something to do with it. We were very balanced on offense, Leanne did a great job of setting and our defense was outstanding again."

The Panthers controlled the first game from start to finish. UWM scored 13 of the first 17 points of the frame and never let the Golden Eagles get closer than eight points the rest of the way. The lead hit double figures for the first time at 16-6 on a Moore kill and grew to 20-8 on a block by Hegemann and Felsing. A block by Gabrielsen and Hegemann pushed the edge to 27-14 and a kill by Vilter followed by an ORU error wrapped up the first game for the Panthers.

UWM broke open a tight contest in the second game. Oral Roberts led 20-18 after a kill by Danijela Novakovic but the Panthers responded with the next seven points to take control. An ace by Lauren Felsing and a kill by Gabrielsen edged the lead to 29-22 and, after two ORU points, a kill by Hegemann gave the Panthers a 2-0 lead in the match.

The third game was tight from start to finish, with the Panthers using a final surge to claim the win. The frame included 13 ties and eight lead changes, with the final tie coming at 27-all after a kill by Leanne Felsing. Moore followed that with a kill before another kill by Felsing and a block by David to finish things off.

"They were flat in game one and I think we shocked them a little bit," Litzau said. "I think we shocked them again in game two with our ability to finish and then game three was more of a dogfight. But, we didn't back down and we stayed poised and calm and pulled it out."

The Panthers return to action this weekend, playing at Cleveland State Friday night and at Youngstown State Saturday afternoon.