Sept. 7, 2007

Box Score |  Notes

MILWAUKEE - Four players reached double figures in kills as the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee rallied from a 2-0 deficit to claim a thrilling 28-30, 22-30, 30-26, 30-26, 15-10 win over Cincinnati Friday night in the Panther Invitational.

The Panthers (7-1) have now won seven-straight matches and own two wins over Big East foes in the first three weeks of the season.

Jamie Gabrielsen led Milwaukee with 18 kills and 16 digs while Becky Peters added 13 kills and a team-high 30 digs. Plus, Leanne Felsing recorded her third-straight triple-double (10 kills, 10 digs, 37 assists) and Nicole Vilter pitched-in with 14 kills. Along the front line, freshman Natalie Schmitting tallied nine kills and 10 blocks, her second-straight outing with a double-figure block tally.

Stephanie Niemer had 19 kills and Jenny Custer added 16 for Cincinnati (6-3), which won the first two games but then could not turn away the stirring Milwaukee rally.

After a hard-fought first game, the Bearcats won the second game easily. From there, the Panthers responded with some of their best volleyball of the young season.

"I think we decided to fight," UWM head coach Susie Johnson said. "I told them in the locker room between games two and three that they were overpowering us and we needed to take control. The nice thing is that this team is so coachable, so they went out and did it. I was impressed with how calm they were about it and they just really went after it. We simply made the decision to compete and decided the match was not over."

While UWM received many contributions in the contest, one of the most notable came from Peters. Milwaukee's starting libero the past two-plus seasons, the junior started at outside hitter for the first time in this afternoon's win over Virginia Tech. She then posted 13 kills, 30 digs and a .314 hitting percentage in the evening victory.

"She is such a competitor and a team player, and she keeps saying she will do whatever she needs to do for the team to win," Johnson said. "She showed all of us she really has it in her. It was a great performance."

Milwaukee started quickly in the deciding fifth game, jumping to leads of 3-0 and 5-2. Cincinnati rallied to tie the game at 6 and again at 7, but UWM took the lead for good at 8-7 on an ace by Lauren Felsing. Leading 11-10, Milwaukee finished the match by scoring the final four points. A kill by Gabrielsen and a block by Vilter and Sueppel started the run before a pair of Bearcat errors ended the match.

The rally started with a strong performance by UWM in game three. The Panthers built leads of 10-6 and 15-8 and still led 22-15 after a kill by Peters. The lead eventually grew to 27-17 on a block by Gabrielsen and Schmitting, but Cincinnati scored nine of the next 11 points to close within 29-26. Gabrielsen then responded with another kill to extend the match.

After falling behind early in game four, the Panthers rallied with nine-straight points to grab an 18-11 lead. The advantage hit 23-14 on a kill by Maddie Sueppel and was still 24-17 after a kill by Felsing. But, the Bearcats made things interesting by scoring five-straight points to cut the lead to two. UWM reestablished a 28-23 advantage before the Bearcats pulled back to within 29-26. Finally, though, a kill by Vilter pushed the match to a fifth frame.

Cincinnati claimed the first two games, grabbing a tight first frame before pulling away in the second. In fact, game one had 16 ties and six lead changes in the first game. UWM had an early 13-12 lead and then led for a final time at 17-16. There were five ties after that, with the final one coming at 27-all following a kill by Peters. But, a block by Jessie Nevitt and Jessica Elley broke the tie and kills by Nevitt and Niemer then put the game away.

The Bearcats controlled much of the second game, turning a 12-11 lead into a 23-17 advantage after an 11-6 run. The advantage grew to 26-18 on a UWM error and, after Milwaukee closed to within four points at 26-22, the Bearcats scored the final four points to wrap up the game.

In the first match of the evening session, Virginia Tech (6-3) posted a 30-24, 30-25, 30-25 win over Bradley (1-8). Jen Albrecht led the Hokies with 12 kills while Taylor Parrish and Kristen Cunningham added 11 apiece. Nikki Pierzchala had 11 kills to lead the Braves, who are now 0-2 in the Invitational. Virginia Tech is 1-1 in the tournament.

The Panther Invitational wraps up Saturday with a pair of daytime matches. Virginia Tech and Cincinnati will square off at 11 a.m. while UWM will face Bradley at 1:30 p.m.