Sept. 11, 2009

Box Score

MILWAUKEE - Natalie Schmitting and Jena Berg had nine kills apiece to lead a balanced attack as the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee opened the 2009 Panther Invitational with a 25-16, 25-23, 25-13 win over South Dakota Friday afternoon.

The Panthers (2-5) hit .287 for the match and tallied 10 blocks in controlling things most of the way. Kerri Schuh added eight kills while hitting a collegiate-best .727.

Kristin Kritenbrink had 15 kills to lead the Coyotes (3-6), who feature a pair of former Panthers on their staff in head coach Matt Houk and assistant coach Leanne Felsing.

"It was a real team effort," UWM head coach Susie Johnson said. "Our confidence was there and we did a great job making an adjustment on our block to really shut them down."

UWM used a late run to win the first set. Milwaukee's lead was just 14-12 after a kill by Krittenbrink but the Panthers scored the next three points to build a 17-12 advantage. The lead was 19-14 after a block by Schmitting and Berg and grew to 23-14 after a run of errors by South Dakota. A kill by Schmitting then finished things off for Milwaukee.

The Panthers had to fight from behind in the second set. USD led 13-9 after a Krittenbrink kill and was still up 20-16 after a UWM error. But, sparked by a pair of kills from Maddie Sueppel, Milwaukee tied the frame at 20. The Coyotes again pushed back to claim a 23-21 advantage but UWM scored the final four points to pull thing out. Schuh had a pair of kills during the final burst, which also included a pair of USD errors.

Milwaukee then controlled the third frame. The Panthers built a quick 12-4 advantage and pushed their lead to 15-6 on a kill by Samantha Trawitzke. The lead grew all the way to 23-9 after a block by Trawitzke and Schmitting before a kill from Schmitting finished off the set and match for UWM.

"We got contributions from a lot of people," Johnson said. "Melissa Jansen played well, Natalie Schmitting was good and Kerri Schuh was really, really good. She gets more confident every time she plays and we need to continue to get her involved in the offense."

In the first contest of the day, Marquette rode a strong offensive attack to a 23-25, 25-16, 18-25, 25-15, 15-8 win over Western Michigan. The Golden Eagles hit .318 for the match and had 69 kills to just 49 for the Broncos.

Tonight's session begins at 5 p.m. with a contest between South Dakota and Marquette. Milwaukee and Western Michigan will then square off at 7:30 p.m.