Sept. 1, 2006

Box Score |  Notes

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Jamie Gabrielsen and Sarah Moore collected nine kills apiece to lead the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee to a convincing 30-15, 30-11, 30-20 win over Mercer Friday afternoon at the Bama Bash.

Milwaukee (3-2) hit .341 for the match and was never really threatened by Mercer (1-4), which hit just -.075. The win was the 250th in the head coaching career of Kathy Litzau.

Cheryl Hegemann added eight kills and Leanne Felsing pitched in with six kills, seven digs, five aces and 24 assists.

Julie Darty led Mercer with seven kills.

"Everyone is contributing, and we are really putting together great team efforts," Litzau said. "We have been getting good play out of system. Normally when there's a bad pass you can't get an attack out of it, but we've been getting good attacks and scoring in those situations. I think that's a big difference from last weekend to this weekend."

The Panthers overcame a slow start to easily claim game one. Mercer scored the first four points of the frame, only to see UWM respond with seven-straight to grab a lead it would never give back. A solo block by Moore pushed the lead to 13-6 and a kill by Melissa David made it 17-7. A Gabrielsen kill extended the advantage to 22-10 and a block by Felsing and Moore made it 27-13. From there, a pair of Mercer errors and a kill by Moore wrapped up the frame for the Panthers.

Milwaukee again had no trouble in game two, scoring 11 of the first 14 points in cruising to the win. Four aces highlighted the early run, which also included two kills from Gabrielsen. The lead grew to 19-6 on back-to-back errors by the Bears and hit 24-8 on a block by Gabrielsen and Hegemann. Kills from Kelley Olson and Moore, along with another ace from Hegemann, made it 28-10 before a pair of Mercer errors gave UWM the final two points of the frame.

Game three followed a similar script, as the Panthers built a 16-10 lead and never looked back. The advantage hit 23-15 on a Hegemann kill and grew to 25-16 on a block by Gabrielsen and Hegemann. UWM then finished off the game and the match on a kill by Felsing.

"We look a lot more relaxed and Leanne has gotten into a good rhythm setting," Litzau said. "There has been a lot more communication from our hitters and we've played very well."

UWM wraps up play in the tournament Saturday, squaring off with the host Crimson Tide at 1:30 p.m. Alabama was to play Ball State at 7 p.m. Friday night after beating Mercer earlier in the day.