Oct. 13, 2007

Box Score |  Notes

MILWAUKEE - Jamie Gabrielsen had 21 kills and 13 digs while Natalie Schmitting added 13 kills and six blocks as the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee claimed a 30-19, 30-32, 30-15, 30-13 win over the University of Illinois at Chicago Saturday afternoon at the Klotsche Center.

The Panthers (18-2, 9-1 League) dominated in each of the three games they won while limiting UIC to a -.037 hitting average for the match.

Leanne Felsing added 10 kills, eight digs, seven blocks and 24 assists for Milwaukee, which has won 18 of its last 19 matches.

Milwaukee's front-row defense made a major impact on the match. The Panthers collected 14 blocks, with Maddie Sueppel (eight blocks), Felsing and Schmitting leading the way.

Amanda Kenny had 16 kills to lead UIC (11-11. 4-6).

The Panthers dropped a back-and-forth second game to find themselves tied in the match. But, UWM jumped out to a 12-3 lead in the third game and completely controlled the rest of the match.

"I was really excited about how we came back after the second game," UWM head coach Susie Johnson said. "We talked after game two about being more disciplined in certain areas and making a few adjustments, and the team really responded. To play that well in the third and fourth games really puts an exclamation point on the win. It was a very good sign of progress for this team."

The Panthers built a big early lead to take control of the first game. UWM scored nine of the first 11 points of the frame and then extended the edge to 15-6 on a kill by Gabrielsen. The lead hit 22-9 on a UIC error and then grew to 28-14 on a block by Felsing and Natalie Schmitting. The Flames did rally to within 29-19 but then committed a service error to give the Panthers the final point.

UWM looked like it might run away again in game two, jumping out to an 8-2 lead. But, the Flames rallied back to tie the game at 16 and then ran off 11 of 14 points to grab a 28-21 lead. The Panthers weren't done, though, clawing back to claim a 30-29 advantage. UIC scored the next three points, though, evening the match at a game apiece.

It was all Milwaukee after that. In the third game, UWM scored 12 of the first 15 points and never looked back. The Panthers' lead hit 15-4 on a kill by Becky Peters and grew to 24-12 on a kill by Schmitting. A pair of aces by Peters made it 29-15 and a kill by Schmitting finished things off.

In game four, the Panthers scored 12 of the first 14 points to take control. The lead hit 14-3 on a Gabrielsen service ace and increased to 18-4 on a block by Peters and Schmitting, A kill by Peters made it 21-5, a kill by Gabrielsen pushed the edge to 27-11 and the game and match ended on a UIC error.

"Jamie really did a tremendous job. She was in a zone," Johnson said. "I just liked the way we started off the games and then stayed determined throughout games three and four. We were extremely disciplined in taking care of the little things. It shows just how good we can be."

UWM returns to action Wednesday night, kicking off a busy week with a non-league contest against crosstown-rival Marquette. The match begins at 7 p.m. at the Klotsche Center.