Oct. 31, 2009

Box Score

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - Jena Berg had 17 kills to lead three players in double figures as the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee claimed a 25-10, 18-25, 25-16, 25-23 win over Youngstown State Saturday afternoon at the Beeghly Center.

Kerri Schuh added 13 kills and Maddie Sueppel 10 for Milwaukee (9-14, 6-6 Horizon), which has won four-straight matches.

The Panthers hit a solid .208 in the contest, their best offensive performance since a win at Loyola in mid-September. UWM also got nine kills from Natalie Schmitting and seven from Mary Beth O'Brien, while Kellye Zaporski had 47 assists in directing the attack.

Ruth Boscaljon had 10 kills to lead Youngstown State (7-17, 5-9), but the Panthers' defense slowed the Penguin attack throughout the day. YSU hit just .126 in the match, with UWM collecting nine blocks and 77 digs. Lauren Felsing led the defensive charge with 26 digs.

UWM came out on fire in the first set and cruised to an easy win. The Panthers scored 14 of the first 17 points of the frame and then never let the Penguins get closer than nine points the rest of the way. A kill by Berg extended the edge to 19-5 and another kill by Berg kept the lead at 21-7. Kills by Sueppel, O'Brien and Schmitting then closed things out for Milwaukee, as UWM had 15 kills and just one error in the first set.

YSU bounced back in the second set, building a 7-3 lead it never gave back. The Penguin edge grew to 18-9 on a kill by Haley Kapferer and was 22-12 after a block by Boscaljon. UWM did fight back to within 23-17 and 24-18, but another kill by Kapferer evened the match.

Milwaukee pulled away in the third set. The Panthers took the lead for good at 11-10 on a Penguin error and extended their edge to 15-11 on a block by Schmitting and Schuh. The lead grew to 18-12 on a kill by Berg and UWM never let Youngstown get closer than four points after that. A run of four-straight points by Milwaukee ended the frame, with a kill by Schuh giving UWM a 2-1 lead in the match.

UWM then hung on in the fourth set. The Panthers snapped a 9-all tie with a 10-0 run midway through the frame. Two kills and two blocks by Sueppel highlighted the burst, with Milwaukee claiming a 19-9 lead. But, YSU nearly battled all the way back, fighting off six match-point chances for the Panthers. UWM finally closed things out, though, with a kill by Schmitting giving Milwaukee the narrow, two-point victory in the set and a victory in the match.

The Panthers now close the regular season with four-straight home matches. UWM starts its stretch run Friday night against Wright State.