Oct. 9, 2010

Box Score

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MILWAUKEE - Jessica Wolfe had 26 kills and Butler held the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee to a negative hitting percentage in the deciding fifth set to claim a 20-25, 25-19, 25-23, 26-28, 15-12 win Saturday afternoon at the Klotsche Center.

Rachel Neuberger and Elizabeth Egerer had 12 kills apiece to lead Milwaukee (9-8, 6-1 Horizon), which saw its six-match winning streak snapped and fell into a first-place tie with the Bulldogs (11-7, 6-1).

UWM had to rally to even get to a fifth set. The Panthers fell down 9-2 early in the fourth set and still trailed 13-6 before starting a rally. UWM tied things at 16 on an ace by Morgan Potter and again fought back to tie the frame at 23 on a kill by Egerer. From there, UWM failed to convert on three set-point chances before finally winning things on a kill by Neubeger.

Then, in the fifth set, Butler took the lead for good at 7-6 on a kill by Claire Randich and led by as many as five points in securing its first win over the Panthers in Milwaukee since 1995. Milwaukee wound up hitting -.083 in the fifth and just .135 for the match.

Melissa Jansen did add 11 kills off the bench for Milwaukee, which also had 12 blocks and 88 digs.. But, in the end, the Panthers (9-8, 6-1 Horizon) simply struggled to get on track at any point during the match.

"It was a hard match," UWM head coach Susie Johnson said. "We were really chasing the whole time and never really were ahead. In the games that we won, we were just ahead at the end. Butler came to play, they were really good and we were just OK. We really had a hard time getting our offense going - that was the main issue."

The teams split the first two sets. In the first frame, UWM rallied from an 18-14 deficit to pull it out. The Panthers tied the set at 19 on a kill by Neuberger and then eventually led 24-19 following another Neuberger kill. After a service error made it 24-20, a kill by Egerer finished things out.

Milwaukee again trailed early in the second set but rallied to tie things at 12 on a kill by Neuberger. Butler quickly restored an 18-13 advantage and then led by as many as seven points. The Panthers closed the gap to 22-19 after three-straight Butler hitting errors, but two kills by Wolfe and a UWM error allowed the Bulldogs to even the match.

Butler pulled out a tight win in a third set that included 11 ties. Milwaukee led for a final time at 19-18 on a kill by Natalie Schmitting but Butler eventually led 22-20 on a kill by Gina Vera. The Bulldogs still led 24-22 before another kill by Schmitting pushed Milwaukee within 24-23. But, a ball in the net on the next rally gave the final point to Bulldogs, putting them up in the match.

That set the stage for Milwaukee's thrilling rally in the fourth set, only to see Butler survive in the fifth frame.

UWM wraps up the weekend with a Sunday contest against Wright State. The match begins at 2 p.m. at the Klotsche Center.