Nov. 7, 2008

Box Score |  Notes

MILWAUKEE - Maddie Sueppel had 10 kills and Becky Peters added nine as the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee remained alone in first place in the Horizon League with a convincing 25-19, 25-19, 25-17 win over Cleveland State Friday night at the Klotsche Center.

The Panthers (17-8, 10-3 League) made their biggest mark on defense, limiting the Vikings to a .070 hitting clip while recording 11 blocks.

UWM also committed just 12 hitting errors in the match and was never seriously threatened late in any of the three sets.

Liz Fazio had 11 kills to lead Cleveland State (6-18, 5-9), which was the preseason league favorite but has struggled to get on track this season. The Vikings used 13 different players in the match and had 21 errors compared to just 20 kills over the final two frames.

"It was such a good match for us, really an exclamation-point win because we put each set away," UWM head coach Susie Johnson said. "We wavered some in that third set but we responded and made sure there was a purpose to everything we were doing. It is a very good time of the season to be so confident and so together. Now we need to stay on that course."

The Panthers steadily pulled away to win the first set. UWM took the lead for good at 5-4 and then used a 5-1 burst to build a 15-9 advantage. Cleveland State pulled back to within 16-14 on a block by Amy Benz and Beth Greulich and again to within 18-16 on a block by Jenni Ramminger, but the Vikings would get no closer. The Panthers pushed their edge to 23-17 on an ace by Natalie Schmitting and then closed out the frame on a kill by Sueppel.

The second set followed a similar script. The Panthers used a 7-0 run to build a 14-8 advantage only to see the Vikings pull back within 15-14 on a Megan Barhorst ace. But, UWM countered with five of the next six points to go up 20-15 and the Vikings would never threaten after that. A block by Schmitting and Melissa Jansen put the Panthers up 24-19 before a kill by Peters gave Milwaukee a 2-0 lead in the match.

UWM fell down 10-7 in the third set before rallying for the win. In fact, thanks in part to six CSU errors, the Panthers turned that deficit into a 15-12 lead and then never let the Vikings get closer than two points the rest of the way. A kill by Schmitting pushed the Milwaukee lead to 21-15 and then a kill from Kerri Schuh and a CSU error gave UWM the sweep.

"We did a great job blocking tonight," Johnson said. "We focused on that a lot during the week and it made a difference. The things we need to do when it comes to blocking are really starting to click with the younger players and that is a great sign. You can see the younger players are really maturing, and blocking is one area where it is very evident."

UWM will wrap up the home portion of the regular season by hosting Youngstown State Saturday at 2 p.m. The match will mark Senior Day, with Becky Peters honored prior to the contest.