Oct. 12, 2008

Box Score |  Notes

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Kerri Schuh had 13 kills to lead four players in double figures as the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee wrapped up its fourth Horizon League victory of the week in claiming a 25-22, 25-23, 20-25, 25-21 win over Cleveland State Sunday afternoon at Woodling Gymnasium.

The Panthers (14-5, 7-1 Horizon) are alone in first place in the league after wrapping up a stretch of four matches in six days with a road win over the preseason league favorite Vikings.

Becky Peters and Maddie Sueppel added 11 kills for Milwaukee, while Natalie Schmitting had 10 kills and six blocks. Lauren Felsing again led the Panther defense in the back row, collecting 29 digs.

Kayla Lefeld had 16 kills and Beth Greulich 15 for the Vikings (4-13, 3-5).

"It was another great team effort," UWM head coach Susie Johnson said. "You can just sense the team believing in each other and trusting our system, and we are getting results. The team is growing and getting better and those are good signs.

"We really kept things under control most of the time. That third set got away from us a little bit but we made some important changes and regained control. It just felt like we were very steady and efficient."

The Panthers pulled out the first set with a pair of surges. UWM broke a 14-all tie by scoring three-straight points and then pushed the lead to 21-17 on a Sueppel kill. Cleveland State did pull back to within 23-22 but a CSU serve error followed by a kill by Peters gave Milwaukee the first set.

UWM had to fight from behind to pull out the second set. In fact, the Panthers trailed 9-4, 16-10 and 17-12 before rallying. Milwaukee got within 17-16 on a CSU error only to see the Vikings restore a 22-19 edge. The Panthers made the final surge, though, with kills by Sueppel and Schmitting highlighting the final rally that gave UWM a 2-0 lead in the match.

CSU looked like it was going to run away with the third set before a strong UWM rally made things interesting. The Vikings scored seven-straight points to break a 6-all tie and eventually led 19-8. The Panthers pulled within 19-12 on a block by Schuh and were down just 22-19 after a CSU error. But, two kills by Lefeld and a kill by Greulich got the Vikings back in the match.

Milwaukee then pulled out a hard-fought win in the fourth set. The Panthers trailed 13-11 after a ball-handling error but responded with seven-straight points to build an 18-13 advantage. Two kills by Schuh and two blocks by Schmitting highlighted the run. The Vikings did pull back to within 22-19 and again to within 24-21, but a kill by Peters wrapped things up for Milwaukee.

The now-completed stretch of four matches in six days looked daunting for the Panthers at the beginning of the week. But after escaping with a five-set win over UIC Wednesday night to complete a sweep of its Chicago foes, Milwaukee settled in with a pair of impressive road showings in Ohio.

"I think we really refocused on ourselves after that UIC match and have returned to being more disciplined in our system and disciplined on our block. I think that has really been helpful," Johnson said. "Our blocking was very important at the right times, and Lauren continues to lead the defense in the back row."

After a busy week, the Panthers will get a chance to catch their breath. UWM doesn't play again until Saturday, when Wright State visits the Klotsche Center for a 4 p.m. contest. The match is part of the weekend's "Pink Out" festivities for UWM Athletics, with a youth clinic preceding the match.