Oct. 18, 2008

Box Score |  Notes

MILWAUKEE - Maddie Sueppel had 13 kills and Kerri Schuh added nine as the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee strengthened its hold on first place in the Horizon League with a 25-19, 27-25, 25-21 win over second-place Wright State Saturday afternoon at the Klotsche Center.

The Panthers (15-5, 8-1 Horizon) swept the season series with the Raiders behind a balanced offensive attack and a defense that limited Wright State (10-13, 6-4) to a .132 hitting percentage.

Natalie Schmitting added seven kills, Natalie Chery six and Becky Peters five for Milwaukee, which has won 34-straight home regular season league matches. Kellye Zaporski had 30 assists and four kills in directing the offense.

UWM's defense was led by 20 digs from Lauren Felsing and five blocks from Sueppel. Peters also had nine digs to become the Horizon League's all-time digs leader.

Lexi Leonhard had 15 kills and Becca Awaa 11 to lead Wright State, which saw a four-match winning streak snapped.

"Winning that match was certainly huge for us," UWM head coach Susie Johnson said. "More and more I think the players are really starting to believe in themselves and see how good they can be. This was a big confidence boost because we capitalized on our chances and we finished this match. We didn't waver or give in."

UWM steadily took control in the first set. After trailing 8-5 early on, Milwaukee took the lead for good at 10-9 on a Sueppel kill. The lead grew to 15-11 on a WSU error and was still 18-15 after a block by Schmitting and Schuh. The Raiders did pull back to within 18-17 but the Panthers countered with the next four points to regain control. A kill by Zaporski and two Raider errors then wrapped things up for UWM.

Milwaukee had to fight from behind to claim the second set. The Panthers were down 17-14 after an ace by Awaa and still trailed 23-19 following a kill from Awaa. But, UWM scored the next five points to claim a 24-23 advantage, with kills by Chery, Peters, Sueppel and Schuh included in the run. After Wright State fought off a pair of set-points, a kill by Sueppel and a WSU error gave Milwaukee a 2-0 lead in the match.

The Panthers pulled away late in the third set. After building a 12-8 lead, Milwaukee found itself down 15-13 after a hitting error. But, the Panthers scored nine of the next 11 points to regain control of the contest. Kills by Chery and Sueppel then finished things off for the Panthers, putting UWM three matches ahead of the Raiders, Butler and Valparaiso in the race for the regular season league crown.

"KP did a really nice job sticking to our game plan and getting the ball to the middle and the right side," Johnson said. "It was just a very solid overall performance and it is a big deal to knock off the second-place team."

UWM returns to action Monday night, making the short trip to the Al McGuire Center to take on Marquette.