Sept. 1, 2007

Box Score |  Notes

BUFFALO, NY - Leanne Felsing had 15 kills to lead five players in double figures as the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee claimed a 30-21, 28-30, 30-23, 30-28 win over Fordham University to start day two of the Western New York Invitational.

Freshman Natalie Schmitting added 14 kills, while Jamie Gabrielsen, Nicole Vilter and Maddie Sueppel each had 12 apiece to lead the Panthers (4-1) to their fourth-straight win.

UWM was also strong defensively, collecting 10 blocks while seeing four players reach double figures in digs. Becky Peters led the way with 16.

Christi Griffiths had 16 kills to lead Fordham (3-3).

"I told the team they did a very good job of responding to our coaching and our adjustments during the match," UWM head coach Susie Johnson said. "We asked them to set the middles in transition more and they did it. We needed them to turn up the aggressiveness on our serve and when attacking the ball and they responded to that. Fordham was a very good team, and it is a very good win."

Milwaukee recovered after losing the second game with a solid effort in the third, steadily building a lead on its way to a 2-1 advantage in the match. The Panthers led by three points early before seeing the Rams fight back to grab a 16-15 lead. UWM took the lead back for good at 19-18 on a Gabrielsen kill and quickly pushed the edge to 22-18. A solo block by Gabrielsen and then a block by Sueppel and Vilter made it 25-19, and Fordham never got closer than four points the rest of the way. An error by the Rams and a kill by Schmitting provided the final two points for the Panthers.

The Panthers then had to battle to pull out the fourth game. Milwaukee led by as many as four points in the early going only to see Fordham claim a 17-16 lead and eventually lead 21-20. The Panthers scored the next four points to take the lead for good and pushed their edge to 28-25 on a kill by Vilter. After the Rams pulled back to within 29-28, another kill by Vilter at the end of a long rally secured the win for the Panthers.

The two teams split the first two frames. The Panthers broke open a close first game at the midway point before cruising to the win. Fordham took just its second lead of the frame at 10-9 before Milwaukee grabbed the lead for good by scoring the next four points. The Panthers extended the lead with five-straight points, including kills by Felsing and Sueppel and three Ram errors. The advantage grew to 23-14 on a Vilter kill and the Panthers then closed out the game on two kills from Felsing and a kill by Sueppel.

Fordham looked like it would run away with the second game before a UWM rally made things interesting. The Rams' advantage hit 20-12 following a kill by Kailee May but the Panthers scored 10 of the next 12 points to tie the frame at 22. The Panthers then took a 25-24 lead on a Fordham error and a 26-25 advantage on a Felsing kill. But, the Rams scored the next three points to grab a 28-26 lead and then put the game away on a UWM error.

"Maddie and Natalie continue to do a good job in the middle as freshmen and Nicole stepped up today," Johnson said. "We were also able to go to our bench to help pull it out."

UWM wraps up play in the Western New York Invitational Saturday afternoon, facing Binghamton at 4:30 p.m. EDT back at the University at Buffalo's Alumni Arena.