Nov. 22, 2008

Box Score |  Notes

MILWAUKEE - Maddie Sueppel had 21 kills, Kerri Schuh 16 and Becky Peters 14 as the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee recorded a thrilling 37-35, 18-25, 26-28, 25-18, 15-8 win over Butler Saturday afternoon in the semifinals of the Horizon League Volleyball Tournament.

The top-seeded Panthers (22-8) recovered from a 2-1 deficit by controlling the fourth and fifth sets en route to their seventh championship-match appearance. They will face either Valparaiso or Cleveland State Sunday at noon EST.

UWM pulled away in the deciding fifth frame. A kill by Schuh started a six-point run that gave the Panthers an 11-5 advantage. Butler would never get closer than five points after that, with a kill by Sueppel and a service ace by Lauren Hintze closing out the match.

Both teams were stellar on offense from start to finish. In fact, Butler hit .306 for the contest and had four players reach double figures in kills. But, Milwaukee wound up hitting .276 for the match after hitting .471 in the fourth set and .350 in the fifth frame.

Milwaukee also had 11 service aces and 10 blocks, while Lauren Felsing (25 digs) and Peters (20 digs) led the defensive efforts in the back row.

Porshia Allen had 20 kills and Jessica Wolfe 19 for Butler (19-11).

"We really kept hanging in there and then we took care of business in the fourth and fifth sets," UWM head coach Susie Johnson said. "We had to play very, very well to win today and we did that. We had to win the match - Butler was not going to give it to us. We got things under control in the fourth set and then were in control in the fifth. It was cool to see the team come together at such an important time."

In fact, after the ups and downs of the first three sets, the Panthers never trailed in the fourth set and faced only a pair of early, one-point deficits in the fifth frame.

"It was nice to see us have control in the fourth and fifth sets," Johnson said. "We made some adjustments on our block and we were able to get some touches and some blocks. That made a difference for us in slowing down their attack because they were really, really good on offense."

The Panthers pulled out a remarkable first set that included 27 ties and 12 lead changes. UWM extended the frame by recovering from a 24-22 deficit and then finally captured the win with a three-point run. A kill by Sueppel stopped a set-point chance for the Bulldogs and a pair of Butler errors gave Milwaukee the 37-35 win.

The Bulldogs controlled the second set and pulled out a tight third frame to take the lead in the match. In the second set, Butler took the lead for good at 7-6 and eventually led by as many as eight points in claiming the win. In the third set, the Panthers led by as many as four points early on but the Bulldogs fought off three set-point chances for UWM. Butler then used a kill, block and ball-handling error to take the set.

UWM steadily pulled away in the fourth set. The Panthers led 15-11 on a kill by Sueppel and went up 22-15 on an ace by Peters. Butler wouldn't get any closer than six points from there, with a block by Sueppel and Mary Beth O'Brien forcing a fifth set.

In the deciding frame, the six-point run midway through the set made the difference. In addition to the kill by Schuh that started the run, Milwaukee also got a kill from Peters before back-to-back blocks from Schmitting and Schuh. Kills by Sueppel and Schuh then pushed the Panthers to the brink of victory before the ace by Hintze finished things off.

UWM had just two hitting errors over the final two sets.

"Our offense just kept getting better throughout the match," Johnson said. "Maddie was great again and Kerri Schuh was on fire. She was approaching the ball hard and we needed her to come through, which she did. Our setters did a great job directing the offense and it was a real team effort."