Sep 6, 2013

Box Score

AKRON, Ohio - Hannah Blanchard had 13 kills and Rachel Neuberger added 12 as the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee claimed a 25-21, 18-25, 25-20, 25-22 win over Tennessee Tech Friday at the Akron Invitational.

The Panthers (2-3) pulled away in the third set and then hung tough late in the fourth frame to wrap up the win.

Freshman Myanna Ruiz led the Milwaukee defensive charge with 18 digs while Taylor Golabowski added 15. UWM also had 10 team blocks, with Nicole Latzig leading the way with five.

Meanwhile, sophomore walk-on Taylor Gruber directed the Panther offense with 39 assists as UWM hit .230 for the match. Gruber was playing in her first collegiate matches today, filling in for the sidelined Kayla Price (concussion symptoms).

Natalie Penrod led four Tennessee Tech (2-3) players in double figures with 15 kills.

The victory was the second of the day for Milwaukee, which rolled past Niagara this morning.

"It was great to get two wins today," Milwaukee head coach Susie Johnson said. "We played very well in our match earlier today against Niagara and then really battled through some things this afternoon. Taylor did well for us filling in for Kayla at setter and our hitters stepped up and helped her out when they needed to. Hannah and Rachel were awesome in both matches and I'm really excited for Nicole and how she is progressing."

Milwaukee found itself down 19-18 late in the first set before pulling ahead. The Panthers took the lead for good at 21-20 on a kill by Latzig and went ahead 24-21 on a block by Latzig and Blanchard. UWM then wrapped up the frame on a Blanchard kill.

Tennessee Tech struck back in the second set. The Golden Eagles broke a 9-all tie with an 8-1 run and were never threatened after that. A kill by Latzig did bring Milwaukee to within 21-15 and a TTU error made it 23-18, but the Panthers could get no closer.

UWM then responded well in the third and fourth sets to win the match. A solo block by Neuberger put Milwaukee ahead 14-7 and an ace by Golabowski pushed the Panther lead to 21-12. Tennessee Tech did crawl back to within 23-20 but a block by Latzig and Sammi Herron followed by a TTU error pushed the Panthers ahead in the match.

Milwaukee also seemed to have control of the fourth set before needing to hang on late. The Panthers built early leads of 4-1 and 11-2 before TTU began to recover. Still, Milwaukee had an 18-12 lead on a kill by Gruber and led 23-19 following a Golden Eagle attack error. TTU did pull to within 24-22 by fighting off a pair of match-points, but a final Golden Eagle hitting error sent the Panthers to victory.

"Our defense was good most of the day and got better as this match went along," Johnson said. "Myanna is doing a very nice job for us in the back row and our blocking has been good. We're making some good adjustments to what we're seeing early in matches and making some strong plays as the match goes on."

Milwaukee wraps up the Akron Invitational with a Saturday match against the host Zips.