Sept. 29, 2007

Box Score |  Notes

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Jenni Ramminger led the way with 23 kills as Cleveland State snapped a 14-match winning streak by the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in a 30-24, 28-30, 21-30, 30-27, 15-11 win Saturday afternoon at Woodling Gymnasium.

Jamie Gabrielsen had 19 kills and 16 digs to lead Milwaukee (14-2, 5-1 Horizon), which committed 40 hitting errors in losing for the first time since its season opener at Wisconsin.

Leanne Felsing added 13 kills, 52 assists and nine digs for the Panthers, while Becky Peters added nine kills and 18 digs. Kelley Olson also had 11 kills off the bench as Milwaukee played without injured setter Kellye Zaporski and with only limited services from middle blocker Maddie Sueppel, who played in just one of the five games while battling a knee injury.

Liz Fazio contributed 15 kills and Beth Greulich added 10 for the Vikings (11-5, 4-1), who beat the Panthers for just the second time in the last 27 meetings between the two teams.

The contest was a battle between the top two teams in the Horizon League's preseason coaches poll, with the Panthers picked first and the Vikings second.

The two teams split the first four games before CSU took control in the fifth game. The Vikings jumped out to a 9-3 lead after back-to-back UWM errors, though the Panthers did recover to pull within 11-9 on a kill by Nicole Vilter. But, CSU scored the next three points to build a 14-9 lead and then followed two-straight UWM points with a kill by Greulich to wrap up the match.

"Cleveland State played really well, but this team fought hard and really adjusted well to having a variety of lineups out there," UWM head coach Susie Johnson said. "Cleveland State was excited, the crowd was really into it and they made it very, very hard for us. But I thought we did a good job of adapting when we had to change it up and we showed again we are very versatile.

"Kelley Olson was great off the bench and Natalie played well, plus Leanne really couldn't have done any more," Johnson added. "We had her setting, hitting, blocking middle and really trying anything we could to finish things off."

Cleveland State fought from behind to win the first game. UWM led 16-13 after a CSU error but the Vikings fought back to tie the game at 18 and then pushed out to a 25-20 lead after two-straight Panther errors. UWM then got no closer than four points the rest of the way.

The Panthers pulled out a tight second game. After ties at 20, 21 and 22-all, Milwaukee scored four-straight points to claim a 26-22 lead only to see the Vikings to fight back to tie the game at 28. But, a CSU error followed by a Felsing kill evened the match at one game apiece.

UWM had an easier time in the third game thanks to runs early and late in the frame. The Panthers jumped out to a 5-3 lead and extended it to 14-7 on a run that included two kills by Schmitting. The lead hit 16-8 on a Peters kill and was 20-12 after a Gabrielsen kill. The Vikings did fight back to within 20-16 and were still within 24-20 but could get no closer. Milwaukee finished the game on a 6-1 run, with two aces by Lauren Hintze and a kill by Kelley Olson helping to finish things off.

CSU responded with a convincing win in the fourth game. UWM did lead 16-14 after a Peters kill and was still within 18-17 after a Gabrielsen kill. But, the Vikings scored the next six points to take control. The CSU lead hit 29-22 on a Ramminger kill and, after UWM scored five-straight to pull within 29-27, a solo block by Amy Benz forced a deciding fifth game.

"We struggled putting the ball away and there were just a few stretches where we allowed them to score too many points in a row," Johnson said. "The team is definitely mad we lost but I am really proud of them. We had some people step up and we certainly showed we are a fighting team. I told the team after the game to remember this feeling because we don't want to have it again."

UWM returns to action Tuesday, starting a stretch of seven-straight home matches with a Tuesday contest against Green Bay. The match begins at 7 p.m. and will be televised live by Time Warner Sports (Channel 32 in Milwaukee).