Oct. 25, 2008

Box Score |  Notes

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - Jessica Wolfe had 16 kills and Porshia Allen added 13 as Butler upended the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee 25-23, 20-25, 25-20, 25-18 Saturday afternoon at Hinkle Fieldhouse.

The Panthers did get 14 kills from Natalie Schmitting, 11 from Kerri Schuh and 10 from Melissa Jansen but fell for the third-straight time. UWM's lead atop the league standings is now one match with five matches remaining.

Jalesa Lee and Kelsey Labrum added nine kills for the Bulldogs (17-6, 7-4 Horizon), who hit .178 for the match.

The Panthers (15-8, 8-3) also got nine kills from Maddie Sueppel, while Lauren Felsing led the defensive charge with 25 digs. But, UWM played from behind the entire match and then could not withstand late surges by the Bulldogs in sets three and four.

"Butler played very well and did a very good job of starting fast in every set," UWM head coach Susie Johnson said. "We had to dig out of a hole in every set and that is a very difficult position to be in. We showed some fight and players like Melissa Jansen and Mackenzie Millis gave us a little bit of a spark. But, we continue to see the quality of teams around the league, especially when teams play at home, and we are definitely seeing everyone's best effort. It will be a fight to the finish for the regular season championship and on into the tournament."

The Bulldogs pulled out a tight first set that included 14 ties. Butler opened up an early 10-4 lead before UWM rolled off seven-straight points for an 11-10 advantage. The set remained tight from there, with neither team claiming more than a one-point edge until an ace by Allen pushed Butler to set-point at 24-22. Sueppel countered with a kill to bring the Panthers within 24-23 but a UWM hitting error gave the Bulldogs the first set.

The Panthers rallied in the second set to pull even in the match. In fact, UWM found itself down by as many as six points, with the final deficit of that margin coming at 17-11 following an Allen kill. Milwaukee closed the gap to 18-17 thanks in part to kills by Schuh and Becky Peters and then finished things off by scoring the final seven points of the frame. The Panthers took the lead for good at 21-20 on a kill by Schmitting and then also got a kill from Schuh and a block by Jansen and Schmitting during the final surge.

Milwaukee had its chances in the third set but could not hold off a late surge by Butler. The Bulldogs actually took the lead for good early on, going up 8-7 before eventually extending the edge to 18-13. The Panthers pulled to within 18-16 on a block by Schmitting and Kellye Zaporski and closed within 20-19 on a kill by Schmitting. The Bulldogs pushed back, though, with an ace by Wolfe starting the winning run. That ace was followed by a kill from Lee and two kills by Labrum as the Bulldogs went up 2-1 in the match.

Butler used another late surge to wrap up the match. After falling down 8-2 in the early going, the Panthers rallied to tie the set at 15-apiece on a Bulldog hitting error. But, Butler quickly pushed its lead back to 19-16 and then never let UWM get closer than two points after that. The Bulldogs finished the match by scoring the final three points, with kills by Wolfe and Allen along with a UWM hitting error wrapping things up.

UWM returns to action next Friday night, welcoming Green Bay to the Klotsche Center for a 7 p.m. contest. The UWM Alumni Association will be hosting Family Halloween Night at the match, with discounted admission for alumni and families as well as free popcorn, a costume contest and kids games.