Oct. 21, 2006

Box Score |  Notes

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - Cheryl Hegemann had 18 kills while Melissa David and Leanne Felsing added 12 kills apiece as the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee claimed a 30-24, 30-21, 30-21 win over Youngstown State Saturday afternoon at the Beeghly Center.

The first-place Panthers (16-5, 8-1 Horizon) hit a season-high .373 in winning their seventh-straight match.

UWM's offense was effectively directed by the setter tandem of Felsing and Kellye Zaporski. Felsing added 21 assists to her 12 kills and .600 hitting percentage while Zaporski tallied a collegiate-best 30 assists to go with 11 digs.

Ebony Barbosa led Youngstown State (9-17, 0-9) with 10 kills.

"It was a very good offensive day," UWM head coach Kathy Litzau said. "Leanne was awesome and Melissa David stepped up and played well. It seemed like last night (in a win at Cleveland State) we needed one more hitter, and that's why we switched to the 6-2. Leanne was going after it on offense last night and that really carried over today. And, KP (Kellye Zaporski) really did a nice job setting. It made it look like we have been doing this (the 6-2) all season, when we've really only done it occasionally."

The Panthers jumped out to a quick lead in the first game and then hung on down the stretch. UWM's edge was 9-3 after a Felsing ace and grew to 18-9 on a solo block by Sarah Moore. YSU rallied behind the serving of Ruth Boscaljon and Karla Everhart, with five aces helping to pull the Penguins within a point at 20-19. But, the Panthers recovered to score the next four points and then pulled away. Kills by Hegemann and Felsing pushed the lead to 27-21 before a kill by David finished off the game for the Panthers.

UWM was never seriously threatened in game two. The Panthers claimed a 10-6 lead on a kill by Moore and, after YSU pulled to within 10-8, UWM used an 8-1 run to claim an 18-9 lead. Kills by Jamie Gabrielsen and Hegemann pushed the lead to 25-16 and a kill by Felsing made it 28-19. Another late kill by David then gave UWM a 2-0 lead in the match.

Game three followed a similar script, with the Panthers jumping to an early lead before controlling the rest of the frame. UWM led 10-5 after an ace by Zaporski and extended the lead to 17-10 on a YSU error. The Panthers then pushed the edge to 23-14 on a kill by Zaporski and the Penguins never got any closer than eight points the rest of the way. A kill by Kelley Olson, an ace from Lauren Felsing and a YSU error closed out the game and match for the Panthers.

After two-straight busy weeks, the Panthers face a much lighter workload in the week ahead. UWM's only contest is at in-state rival UW-Green Bay Friday night.