Aug. 25, 2007

Box Score |  Notes

MADISON, Wis. - Jamie Gabrielsen tallied a collegiate-best 31 kills and Leanne Felsing recorded a triple-double as the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee scored a 31-33, 30-27, 30-25, 26-30, 15-13 win over Syracuse Saturday morning at the InnTowner Invitational.

The win was the first in the UWM head coaching career of Susie Johnson and evened Milwaukee's early-season record at 1-1.

The Panthers never trailed in the tight fifth game, with a kill by Felsing eventually giving Milwaukee the win.

"I am really proud of my team for working through the ups and downs of the match," Johnson said. "I think they are still learning about themselves and their teammates and seeing how everyone will react in a game. It's a great win to get, especially against a Big East opponent."

Felsing's triple-double, the eighth of her career, included 17 kills, 22 digs and 32 assists. Gabrielsen, meanwhile, added 20 digs to go with her 31 kills, the most by a Panther in a five-game match and tied for the second-most in a Division I match of any length in school history.

"Jamie is our big hitter and she came through," Johnson said. "She made some adjustments from last night and I think she is still building confidence as an outside hitter. Leanne is our all-around player and the stats show that. A lot is put on her shoulders in a lot of different areas and she delivered in all of those areas."

Cheryl Cobbina had 27 kills, Kacie MacTavish added 14 and Brittany Kern 10 for the Orange (1-1), which returned its entire starting lineup from a season ago.

In the decisive fifth frame, UWM jumped to a 4-0 lead and led 8-6 at the change-over. The Orange did fight back to tie the game at 11 but a kill by Felsing, an ace by Becky Peters and a Syracuse error gave UWM match point. The Orange scored the next two points before Felsing's kill down the right side wrapped up the match for the Panthers.

The two teams split the first four games. The Panthers posted a strong comeback in the first game before coming up just short. In fact, after holding an early 8-7 lead, UWM found itself trailing 20-14 following a service error. But, Milwaukee fought back to tie the game at 22 on a solo block by Felsing and then took a 23-22 lead on a Gabrielsen kill. UWM had a game-point chance at 29-28 after a kill by Natalie Schmitting but the Orange turned that away. The Panthers then fought off two game-point opportunities for Syracuse before kills by Cobbina and Kern gave the Orange the first frame.

Milwaukee came up with another stellar comeback in game two and this time it was enough to pull out the win. The Panthers trailed 12-7 in the early going of the frame and eventually found themselves down 20-12. But, three kills by Schmitting and a kill by Kerri Schuh helped spark a rally, with Milwaukee tying the game at 23 on a Felsing kill and taking its first lead at 24-23 on a kill by Maddie Sueppel. Then, after falling behind again 26-24, the Panthers took the lead for good at 27-26 on a Sueppel kill and closed out the game on a kill by Gabrielsen and a block by Sueppel and Kellye Zaporski.

UWM quickly took control of game three and then held off a late Syracuse rally to claim the win. The Panthers scored five of the first six points in the frame and eventually led 14-8 following a Gabrielsen kill. The lead grew to 17-8 on an Orange error and UWM still led 23-14 after a Nicole Vilter kill. The Orange did rally to within 26-24 on two-straight kills by Cobbina, but two kills by Gabrielsen and two Syracuse errors allowed the Panthers to wrap up the game.

The Orange countered by steadily pulling away in the fourth game before a late rally by UWM made things interesting. Syracuse built a 14-10 lead on a kill by Cobbina and eventually grew its edge to 20-14 on a Kacie MacTavish kill. The Orange led 25-18 after a UWM error and then moved to game point at 29-10 on another Cobbina kill. Milwaukee scored the next five points, two coming on kills by Sueppel, but a final kill by Cobbina at the end of a long rally forced a fifth game.

UWM wraps up tournament play later Saturday with a 5 p.m. match against Gardner-Webb. The Bulldogs were to play the hosts from Wisconsin at about 12:30.