Nov. 13, 2009

Box Score

MILWAUKEE - Three players collected 12 kills apiece as the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee continued its late-season surge with a 17-25, 25-12, 25-19, 25-22 win over Valparaiso Friday night at the Klotsche Center.

The Panthers (12-14, 9-6 Horizon) have now won seven-straight matches.

Maddie Sueppel, Jena Berg and Kerri Schuh all had 12 kills, while Natalie Schmitting added 10 for Milwaukee, which hit a solid .236 for the match.

UWM's defense was also stellar, limiting Valparaiso (21-9, 11-4) to a .142 hitting clip. The Panthers had 16 blocks and forced the Crusaders into a total of 28 hitting errors. Schmitting had nine blocks, while five different players collected at least 10 digs.

Tara Diebler had 20 kills to lead Valparaiso, which won the first set easily but then could not slow the Panthers over the final three frames.

"The thing about this team is that we're able to make changes during the match now and we really changed the block," UWM head coach Susie Johnson said. "That was the main goal during the match - to adjust the block, and then we end up with 16 blocks. It is hard for teams to do that within a match and we were able to do that."

The teams split the first two sets, with each team claiming an easy win. In the first set, Valpo scored 11 of the first 13 points and never really looked back. Milwaukee did cut the lead to five on a number of occasions, the final one coming at 22-17. But, kills by Mary Dent and Jenny Pokorny sandwiched around a solo block from Diebler gave VU the first frame.

The Panthers ran away in the second set. UWM broke a 6-all tie with five-straight points and eventually led 17-10 following a Valpo error. After the Crusaders closed to within 17-12, Milwaukee finished the set on an 8-0 run. Two aces from Lauren Hintze and two kills by Mary Beth O'Brien highlighted the burst, which ended with a Valpo error.

Milwaukee pulled away late to win the third set. The Panthers had an early 10-6 lead but Crusaders fought back to within 19-18 on a kill by Diebler. VU was still within 20-19 following a UWM error but Milwaukee scored the next five points to claim the win. Kills by Schuh and Melissa Jansen and a block by Sueppel and Schuh highlighted the burst.

The Panthers then pulled out a hard-fought win in the fourth set. Milwaukee led 16-11 at the midway point of the frame only to see Valpo score five-straight to tie things at 16. But, UWM scored the next three points to regain control and then finished the match with kills by Schmitting and Berg and a tandem block by the duo.

UWM wraps up its regular season Saturday afternoon, welcoming Butler to the Klotsche Center for a 4 p.m. contest. The match marks Senior Day, as the Panthers will honor Lauren Felsing and Kellye Zaporski prior to the contest.