Sept. 15, 2012

Box Score

MILWAUKEE - Lindsey Gosh had 16 kills and Holly Mertens added 14 as Marquette knocked off the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's volleyball team, 22-25, 25-18, 25-16, 25-10, Saturday night in the final match of the Marquette Invitational.

Julie Kolinske had 22 kills while Elizabeth Egerer added 10 for Milwaukee (5-8), which looked extremely comfortable in the first set but could never find its stride after that. The Golden Eagles (9-3) hit better than .300 over the final three sets while the Panthers had more hitting errors than kills in the final two frames.

Anna Bartz had 21 digs and Maisey Mulvey 16 to lead Milwaukee's defense. Marquette did collect 11 blocks in controlling play up front.

"We started off really, really strong. We were playing point-to-point with them and in fact pulled away and won that first one. And then we hit a bit of a rough time the rest of the match and it showed in the scores," Milwaukee head coach Susie Johnson said. "But the reality is we're going to keep fighting. We start conference next week and we're going to prepare for that."

The Panthers battled back to win the first set. UWM trailed 11-8 in the early going but took a 15-14 lead on a kill by Kolinske. The lead grew to 18-15 on another Kolinske kill and hit 21-16 following a block from Egerer and Nicole Latzig. After Marquette closed to within 22-21, Sammi Herron responded with a kill to put the Panthers back up by 2. Then, kills by Egerer and Herron helped finish things off.

Marquette struck back in the second set. The Golden Eagles broke a 6-all tie with six-straight points and then led 16-8 after a kill by Gosh. The advantage grew to 19-9 on a Panther hitting error before Milwaukee was able to fight back to within 20-14 following a kill by Kolinske. The Panthers were still within 22-16 after an Egerer kill but MU was able to close things out.

The Golden Eagles then controlled most of the third set. They scored six of the first eight points of the frame, though UWM was able to close the gap to 7-6 after a kill by Egerer. The lead was still only 12-10 Marquette before the Golden Eagles started to pull away. The advantage hit 17-11 on a kill by Danielle Carlson and was 20-13 after a kill by Gosh. Egerer and Amber Simonton teamed up for a block to pull Milwaukee within six at 21-15 but UWM would get no closer.

Marquette pulled away in the fourth set. The Golden Eagles bolted to a 12-3 lead and led 18-5 after a UWM hitting error. The Panthers did put together back-to-back kills from Herron to pull within 21-19 but would get no closer as MU closed out the match.

UWM now turns its attention toward Horizon League play, starting with a pair of home matches next weekend. The Panthers host Youngstown State Friday night before squaring off with Cleveland State Saturday afternoon.