Oct. 2, 2007

Box Score |  Notes

MILWAUKEE - Jamie Gabrielsen had 16 kills and Leanne Felsing recorded her ninth triple-double of the season as the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee captured a hard-fought 30-27, 30-24, 30-28 win over the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay Tuesday night at the Klotsche Center.

The Panthers (15-2, 6-1 Horizon) won for the 15th time in their last 16 outings and beat Green Bay for the 28th time in the last 30 meetings between the two teams.

Felsing's triple-double included 11 kills, 13 digs and 26 assists as the senior took back her usual hitter-setter role with the return of Kellye Zaporski (17 assists) from injury. The two kills that pushed Felsing into a triple-double were big ones, as one broke a 27-all tie in the third game and the final one wrapped up the match for the Panthers.

Liesl Tesch led Green Bay (4-12, 2-5) with 17 kills.

The return of Zaporski helped a banged-up Panther team that still played without starting middle blocker Maddie Sueppel, who sat out resting her knee. Yet, Milwaukee had enough to hold off its in-state rival.

"I liked the versatility and the determination we showed, but you could see we were really just having to figure out a way to win," UWM head coach Susie Johnson said. "We were basically playing without a middle half of the time and Kellye hasn't practiced or played in the last two weeks, so we were trying to get in synch as the match went along. And, Green Bay certainly didn't make it easy for us."

The Panthers had to fight hard to pull out a first game that included eight ties. In fact, the game was tied at 22, 25 and 26 before Milwaukee took the lead for good on a kill by Natalie Schmitting. A Green Bay error and another Schmitting kill pushed the edge to 29-26 before another Phoenix error wrapped up the game for the Panthers.

UWM pulled away in the second game. The Panthers took the lead for good at 12-11 but still led just 19-17 after a block by Nikki Hintze and Abby Bergsma. Milwaukee pushed its lead out, though, going up 26-20 on a Kelley Olson kill. The Phoenix did close back to within three at 27-24 but, after a UWM timeout, the Panthers finished out the frame on a kill by Gabrielsen and two Green Bay errors.

The Panthers looked like they might be able to run away with the third game, building early leads of 7-3 and 13-8. But, Green Bay fought back to tie the game at 19 and the Phoenix eventually took a 21-20 advantage. Then, after the Panthers rebuilt a 25-22 lead following kills by Becky Peters and Schmitting, the Phoenix knotted the game at 27 on a UWM error. Milwaukee had the final surge, though, with two kills by Felsing and a kill by Vilter finishing things off.

"Kellye was rusty but did her best and her being out there allows Leanne to add to our offense," Johnson said. "Then you see Jamie out there making some great adjustments from our last match and really playing under control."

UWM returns to action Sunday, hosting Valparaiso in a 2 p.m. contest. The Crusaders started the week in first place in the league with a perfect 4-0 record.