Nov. 24, 2013

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Video Interview With Tournament MVP Maggie Dunbar

MILWAUKEE - The turnaround is complete.

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's volleyball is once again atop the Horizon League and back in the NCAA Tournament after an impressive 25-20, 23-25, 25-20, 25-18 win over Valparaiso Sunday in the championship match of the league tournament at the Klotsche Center.

The victory capped a return to glory for the Panthers, who didn't even qualify for the league tournament after an injury-plagued 2012 campaign. But Milwaukee made up for it in 2013, winning the regular season league title before claiming two postseason wins.

Sunday's story included balanced offense, stellar defense and the standout play of tournament most valuable player Maggie Dunbar, who has emerged as a key offensive contributor over the final month of the season.

It also provided a celebratory chapter for a 12-month journey of redemption for the Panthers, who used last season's struggles as huge motivation.

"It was a full commitment 12 months ago," Milwaukee head coach Susie Johnson said. "This team completely committed to the coaches and to each other about building and working hard. Physically we worked hard and mentally we worked hard. You can't win a championship if you aren't physically and mentally strong, and this team did that."

"A lot of 6 a.m. workouts over the summer and running stairs - everything was so worth it," Dunbar said. "We worked so hard this off-season and we have earned this and we totally deserve this. I am so happy for all of my teammates."

UWM had dropped two matches over the final three weeks of the regular season and pinpointed blocking as one area for improvement. Milwaukee had 16 blocks in the match Sunday and appropriately clinched the championship on a triple block from Nicole Latzig, Julie Kolinske and Dunbar.

"That has been the game plan for a couple of weeks. We were struggling with that," Johnson said. "We had some losses and that was really why. But once you get your block going it really does stress people out and that was the plan. It worked."

Dunbar shared team-high honors with 14 kills while Kolinske also added 14 kills. Myanna Ruiz had 12 kills and 14 digs while Latzig contributed 11 kills and nine blocks, including four solo efforts. The Panthers wound up dominating the final stat sheet, winning the battle in kills (66-49), digs (76-62), blocks (16-10) and hitting percentage (.241-.133).

Kolinske and Taylor Golabowski (22 digs Sunday and 45 total in the tournament) joined Dunbar on the all-tournament team. But the sophomore lefty really stole the show on offense over the weekend for Milwaukee and was a key part of the plan for Sunday.

"The plan was to go to that side of the court and what Maggie needed to do was execute," Johnson said. "We always knew she was good enough and she absolutely proved it today."

"It actually gave me confidence because Susie had faith in me and everyone had faith in me," Dunbar said. "It built me up instead of putting pressure that I had to put the ball down."

After the two teams split the first two frames, the Panthers seemed to settle in during sets three and four.

Milwaukee took the lead for good at 5-4 in the third set and quickly pushed the edge to 12-7 on a Latzig kill. The Crusaders were able to pull to within 17-15 on an Emily Campbell kill but the Panthers answered with the next three points for a 20-15 advantage. UWM eventually pushed the edge to 24-18 on a kill by Dunbar and then closed out the set on pounding kill by Rachel Neuberger.

The Panthers then kept control throughout the fourth set, again taking the lead for good at 5-4 before going up 9-5 on an ace by Maddie Schmitz. The lead grew to 12-7 on a Kolinske kill and hit 16-10 on a kill by Dunbar. Valparaiso was able to close to within three but could never get any closer. The advantage was 21-15 on a kill by Kayla Price and hit 24-18 on a kill by Kolinske. The title was then salted away on the triple block by Latzig, Kolinske and Dunbar.

The Panthers (18-10) have now won the league tournament eight times and will play in their 10th NCAA Tournament. Pairings for the 64-team event come out next Sunday evening.