Sept. 15, 2009

Box Score |  Notes

DEKALB, Ill. - Jena Berg had 18 kills to lead four players in double figures as the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee earned a hard-fought 25-22, 23-25, 25-27, 25-23, 15-10 win over Northern Illinois Tuesday night at Victor E. Court.

The Panthers scored eight-straight points to break a 4-all tie in the fifth set and then hung on for the victory.

Maddie Sueppel, Melissa Jansen and Natalie Schmitting all added 10 kills apiece for Milwaukee (3-8), which had to fight from behind in the fourth set to force the deciding fifth frame.

Berg and Lauren Felsing each had 20 digs to lead a stellar defensive effort for UWM, as Northern Illinois (5-7) hit just .123 in the match and was forced into 39 hitting errors.

Allison McGlaughlin had 20 kills to lead the Huskies.

"I keep thinking we need to learn from what has happened before, and why not put yourself in another five-game match ... and then you win," UWM head coach Susie Johnson said. "We came out really strong, they kind of had a rally there, but we came through with the win. We had to do a lot of fighting through that match."

Milwaukee was fairly steady throughout the first set, leading most of the way and then using a late surge to clinch the win. The Panthers built a quick 8-4 lead after a kill by Mackenzie Millis and then led 13-10 following an NIU error. The Huskies fought back to take their only lead of the set at 20-19 on a Panther error, but UWM regained control from there. Three-straight kills by Berg put Milwaukee up 24-21 and, after a Panther error, a kill from Schmitting put UWM ahead in the match.

NIU evened things up with a solid effort in the second set. The Huskies led almost the entire way, taking the lead for good at 13-12 before eventually pushing the edge to 20-15 on a kill by Mary Kurisch. The Panthers fought back within 21-20 on a kill by Berg, only to see the Huskies score the next three to push things to set-point. UWM was able to fight off three of those chances, but a kill Meagan Schoenrock allowed NIU to tie things at a set apiece.

The Huskies then took the lead in the match by pulling out the third set. NIU seemed to be taking control midway through the frame, building a 19-14 lead after a block and two-straight kills by McGlaughlin. Milwaukee fought back to tie things at 20 on a kill by Sueppel and still had things knotted up at 22 on a kill by Berg. NIU claimed a 24-22 lead, only to see UWM fight off a pair of set-points, and the Panthers also fought off another set-point at 25-24. But, the Huskies took the lead back for good on a service error and then wrapped up the set on an ace by Monica Lang.

UWM fought from behind to win the fourth set. The Panthers trailed 16-12 after a Cassie Yates kill and were still down 19-15 following an error. But, Milwaukee scored four-straight points to take a 23-22 lead and went ahead for good at 24-23 on a tip-kill by Samantha Trawitzke. Then, Sueppel won a battle at the net to end a long point and extend the contest to a deciding fifth set.

Milwaukee's deciding 8-0 run in the fifth set included kills from Schuh and Schmitting along with a block from Schmitting and Berg. UWM eventually led 14-6 after a NIU error, only to see the Huskies fight off four match-points. But, after a timeout, a kill by Trawitzke wrapped things up.

The Panthers will now turn their attention to league play, heading to Chicago this weekend for matches with Loyola and UIC.