Oct. 24, 2008

Box Score |  Notes

VALPARAISO, Ind. - Allison Sears had 20 kills and Angie Porche added 16 as Valparaiso captured a 22-25, 26-24, 25-10, 25-21 win over the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Friday night at the Athletics-Recreation Center.

The Crusaders (15-6, 6-4 Horizon) limited the Panthers (15-7, 8-2) to a .080 hitting clip as Milwaukee committed 26 hitting errors.

Becky Peters had 12 kills and Kerri Schuh added 10 for UWM, which fell for the second-straight time but remains two matches ahead of the field in league play.

Morgan Potter had 13 digs and Lauren Felsing 12 for Milwaukee, while Natalie Schmitting had eight blocks.

The Panthers started strong in claiming a solid first-set victory but then could never truly slow Sears or Porche the rest of the way.

"Valparaiso played very well," UWM head coach Susie Johnson said. "Angie Porche and Allison Sears both really did a great job and Valpo was able to run its offense in system throughout the match. They took us out of our game after the first set and we never really got back on track."

UWM hung on to win the first frame. The Panthers built an early 12-8 advantage only to see Valpo fight back to tie the set at 17 on a block by Porche. Milwaukee scored the next four points to reclaim control, with two blocks and a Schmitting kill highlighting the run. The Crusaders did push back to within 23-22 but a kill by Maddie Sueppel and a VU error gave the set to the Panthers.

Valpo pulled out the second set after nearly seeing it slip away. The Crusaders claimed control early, building leads of 7-2 and 9-3 while still leading 13-8 after a kill by Sears. VU's edge hit 20-14 following another kill by Sears before UWM surged back, closing to within 20-19 on a block by Sueppel and Peters. The Panthers eventually tied the set at 21 on a VU error and again knotted things up at 23 and 24. But, the Crusaders responded with two-straight kills to even the match.

The Crusaders controlled the third set from start to finish. Valpo jumped out to a 6-2 lead and extended its advantage to 12-5 on a UWM error. The lead grew to 18-6 on a kill by Val Bollenbacher and the Panthers never got closer than 10 points after that. A kill by Porche and a UWM error wrapped up the set for VU. The Panthers wound up hitting -.103 in the set, collecting just four kills.

VU then closed out the match by winning a tight fourth set. The Crusaders took the lead for good at 10-9 and pushed their lead to 20-15 on a kill by Sears. The Panthers fought back to within 21-19 on an ace by Samantha Trawitzke but would never get any closer. A kill by Porche pushed the VU edge to 24-19 and, after UWM scored a pair of points, another kill by Porche wrapped up the match.

The Panthers continue their weekend road swing through Indiana Saturday afternoon, squaring off with Butler at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The match begins at 4 p.m. EDT/3 p.m. CDT.