Nov. 20, 2009

Box Score

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Jena Berg had 21 kills to lead five players in double figures as the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee rallied for a 25-16, 15-25, 15-25, 28-26, 15-10 win over the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay Friday night in the quarterfinals of the Horizon League Volleyball Tournament at Woodling Gymnasium.

The third-seeded Panthers (14-14) will face second-seeded Valparaiso Saturday at 3:30 p.m. EST/2:30 p.m. CST in the semifinals.

UWM had to fight off a pair of match-points in the fourth set before pulling away in the fifth frame to claim the win.

The Panthers also had to overcome a stellar offensive effort by the Phoenix (10-20), which hit .282 in the match.

Natalie Schmitting added 13 kills and Kerri Schuh 12 for UWM, which has now won nine-straight matches.

Lauren Felsing had 26 digs and was one of three players with more than 20 digs for Milwaukee, as Jena Berg added 24 and Kellye Zaporski 22. Felsing is now two digs away from becoming UWM's all-time leader in the category.

Holly Visser had 21 kills to lead Green Bay, which lost to Milwaukee for the 33rd time in the last 36 meetings between the two schools.

Milwaukee trailed 6-5 in the deciding fifth set before three-straight points gave UWM an 8-6 lead. The advantage grew to 12-7 after two aces by Lauren Hintze and a Green Bay error and the Panthers never looked back. A kill by Schmitting officially finished things off.

The two teams split the first two sets with each team posting a dominating performance. UWM had 18 kills en route to a 25-16 win in the first frame, while Green Bay countered with 19 kills on its way to a 25-15 victory in the second set.

In the first set, Milwaukee used a 10-3 run to finish out the frame. The lead was only 15-13 after an ace by Nikki Hintze but went to 18-13 on a Felsing ace and was still 21-16 following a kill by Schuh. That started a 5-0 run for the Panthers, with another kill by Schuh finishing things off.

Green Bay scored eight of the first nine points in the second set and never looked back. In fact, the Panthers never got closer than five points from there and led 15-7 after a kill by Visser. The advantage grew to 18-9 and never dipped below seven points. Another kill by Visser and a solo block by Carmen Leitermann then evened the match.

The Phoenix also controlled the third set, jumping out to a 12-5 lead on a tip kill by Hintze. UWM did fight back to within 4 at 15-11 but would get no closer. A kill by Visser capped a 6-0 run, giving Milwaukee a 21-11 lead. A pair of late UWM errors pushed Green Bay ahead in the match.

UWM fought hard to stay alive by pulling out the fourth set. The Panthers built a 13-9 lead but the Phoenix fought back to claim a 20-19 lead on a kill by Visser. Neither team could break free after that, with Milwaukee claiming a set-point chance at 24-23 before Green Bay had a pair of opportunities to close out the match at 25-24 and 26-25. But, a kill by Berg knotted things at 26 before two more kills by her extended the match to a deciding fifth frame.