Sept. 13, 2013

Box Score

MADISON, Wis. - Rachel Neuberger, Julie Kolinske and Myanna Ruiz all tallied 13 kills apiece as the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee claimed an impressive 25-16, 26-24, 25-21 win over Bowling Green Friday afternoon at the InnTowner Invitational.

The Panthers (4-4) hit .285 in perhaps their most impressive performance of the season to date, sweeping past a Bowling Green team that advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament a season ago and was picked to win the MAC this season.

"To see this team come together and have such a team effort for this win was great," Milwaukee head coach Susie Johnson said. "It was such an important win and it truly was a team effort."

Kayla Price directed the strong Panther offense, collecting 45 assists as Milwaukee tallied 48 kills but just 13 hitting errors.

Milwaukee's defense was also strong. Taylor Golabowski led the back-row efforts with 24 digs, while freshman Maddie Schmitz added 13.

Lindsey Butterfield led Bowling Green (1-5) with 14 kills.

"Kayla really set a great match. She was composed the whole match," Johnson said. "We had our outsides really come through with a great hitting percentage. Our defense was excellent, too, so it really all came together."

Milwaukee put together an impressive performance in winning the first set. The Panthers bolted to a 6-1 lead on a kill by Neuberger and then led 9-3 after a block. Milwaukee edge was still 12-7 following a Kolinske kill and grew to 22-12 after back-to-back kills from Ruiz and Kolinske. Bowling Green was never able to get closer than eight points after that, with kills from Maggie Dunbar and Nicole Latzig finishing things off for Milwaukee.

The Panthers then fought hard to win the second set. Milwaukee grabbed an early 9-6 lead but Bowling Green rallied to take a 16-13 advantage. UWM still trailed 22-21 late in the frame before pulling things out. The Panthers were up 24-23 before the Falcons fought off one set-point, but kills Ruiz and Neuberger answered the call and pushed Milwaukee ahead by two sets.

Milwaukee then finished things off by hanging on to win the third set. The Panthers bolted to leads of 5-1, 8-3 and 13-4, with final burst highlighted by kills from Latzig, Kolinske and Dunbar. UWM eventually went up 15-6 on another Latzig kill and was still up 18-11 following a Kolinske kill. The Falcons were able to pull within 19-17 following two-straight kills by Butterfield, but UWM quickly answered on kills by Ruiz and Latzig. Milwaukee then finished things off behind a block by Neuberger and Ruiz along with a pair of kills from Ruiz.

UWM wraps up its stay at the InnTowner Invitational with a match against #25 Wisconsin Saturday at 11 a.m.