Nov. 8, 2008

Box Score |  Notes

MILWAUKEE - Maddie Sueppel had 16 kills to lead four players in double figures as the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee pulled out a 22-25, 25-18, 25-19, 26-24 win over Youngstown State Saturday afternoon at the Klotsche Center.

Natalie Schmitting added 15 kills, Becky Peters 14 and Kerri Schuh 10 for the Panthers (18-8, 11-3 League), who remained atop the Horizon League with the win.

Kaitlin O'Hara had 16 kills and Ebony Barbosa added 11 for Youngstown State (11-15, 4-11), which committed just one error in the first set but then had 20 over the final three frames.

Milwaukee got 25 digs from Lauren Felsing, hit a solid .253 in the match and tallied 12 aces but had to battle throughout to pull out the win.

"We had to play really well to pull out the win," UWM head coach Susie Johnson said. "Youngstown State was great but we were up to the challenge. We just need to get rid of some of the streaks of points against us and we'll be fine. It is a good time to be pushed, though, because we need to get that feeling and then overcome it."

Youngstown State played nearly errorless volleyball in claiming the first set. In fact, the Penguins hit .412 in the frame while committing only one error. The Panthers led by as many as four points in the early going but YSU took the lead for good at 22-21 on a kill by O'Hara. The Panthers were still within 23-22 on a Schmitting kill but a kill by Haley Kapferef and an ace by Laurie Shives gave the Penguins the first frame.

Milwaukee bounced back to win the second set. The Panthers built an early 12-8 advantage and still led 17-13 after a kill by Sueppel. The lead grew to 20-15 on an ace by Samantha Trawitzke and to 22-16 on a kill by Schmitting. UWM then wrapped up the set on a block by Sueppel and Mary Beth O'Brien.

The Panthers controlled the third set. UWM jumped out to a 15-7 advantage and YSU would never get closer than four points after that. A kill by Schmitting kept Milwaukee's lead at 22-16 and then kills from Peters and Sueppel gave the Panthers a 2-1 lead in the match.

UWM then had to pull out a hard-fought fourth set. The Panthers actually trailed 18-13 but fought back to take a 21-20 on a YSU error. The Penguins did fight off one match-point chance, tying the frame at 24. But a block by Sueppel and Schuh followed by a block from Sarah Sliva and Sueppel gave UWM its 37th-straight regular season home league win.

"We talked about getting the ball to our middles in transition, because we can outplay teams at that position when we do that," Johnson said. "We just need to give them a good set and they can really do well, and you saw that today."

UWM wraps up the regular season with a pair of matches in Chicago next weekend. The Panthers play at UIC Friday night and at Loyola Saturday afternoon.