Oct. 22, 2010

Box Score

MILWAUKEE - Kerri Schuh and Natalie Schmitting had 12 kills apiece and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee hit a season-best .355 in claiming a 27-25, 25-14, 25-11 win over Youngstown State Friday night at the Klotsche Center.

Melissa Jansen added 10 kills for Milwaukee (13-8, 9-1 Horizon), which also got 17 digs from Morgan Potter and a 38-assist, 13-dig effort from Jena Berg.

Haley Kapferer had seven kills to lead Youngstown State (2-21, 0-10).

Milwaukee's defense limited YSU to a .108 hitting clip, as the Panthers collected 10 blocks and 59 digs.

The Panthers used a great comeback to win the first set and then completely controlled play in sets two and three.

"We knew they were coming to play. We were making some errors and gave them about 10 points in that first set, so it was critical to be efficient," UWM head coach Susie Johnson said. "We wanted to be steady but it doesn't always happen right away. We actually played really, really well after that."

The Panthers had to fight from behind to win the first set. UWM trailed most of the way and found itself down 24-20 after a kill by Marissa Hundelt. But, the Panthers struck back from there, scoring the next five points to claim a 25-24 advantage. After one YSU point, a kill by Schuh and then an ace by Schuh put Milwaukee ahead in the match.

UWM had a much easier time of things in the second set. The Panthers jumped to a 15-7 lead behind a run of eight-straight points and still led 19-11 following a block from Berg and Rachel Neuberger. Milwaukee then finished things off with a run of four-straight points, as kills by Schuh and Schmitting sealed the set.

Milwaukee controlled the third frame. The Panthers scored 12 of the first 15 points, with two kills apiece from Schmitting and Neuberger highlighting the early burst. The lead was 18-7 after another kill from Schmitting and 23-9 when Jansen pounded home a kill. Schmitting and Neuberger then added tallies offensively to finish things off.

The Panthers return to action Saturday afternoon, welcoming Cleveland State to the Klotsche Center for a 4 p.m. contest.