MILWAUKEE - Marquette University used a season-high 16 blocks to highlight a 3-0 victory over the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee volleyball team Tuesday night at the Klotsche Center.
 
"I thought we started out competing very well and then they had a few blocks and I think it threw off our hitters," UWM head coach Susie Johnson said. "Their blocking game stepped up – 16 blocks is incredible for three sets. It was hard to make an adjustment and they played at a very high level tonight."
 
The Panthers (14-11) led the Golden Eagles (20-6) by a score of 14-12 in the first set and then ran into trouble, falling behind thanks to a big scoring run and never recovering the rest of the match in the 25-20, 25-12, 25-16 decision.
 
"We have four more conference matches and no one is going to back down from us," Johnson said. "We have to learn to be coachable in hard times and learn to keep fighting though it when it's tough."
 
Senior Julie Kolinske paced Milwaukee with a match-high 13 kills. Junior Maggie Dunbar had nine and junior Nicole Latzig had six with no errors (.500 hitting percentage).
 
Junior Kayla Price tallied 33 assists and senior Taylor Golabowski came through with a match-high 17 digs. Milwaukee hurt its cause with a .155 hitting percentage and eight service errors.
 
Autumn Bailey led the charge for Marquette with a double-double of 12 kills and 12 digs, adding four blocks and a pair of aces. Teal Schnurr finished with an impressive 10 blocks, the first Golden Eagle with at least 10 since 2009. The team hit .412 to set the pace in the first set (14 kills, 0 errors, 34 attacks) and finished at .353 overall.
 
"That's a good team," Johnson said. "Their RPI is around 25 right now. It was a hard match for us … I do think in ways it made us better. We can learn how to play better when times are tough and how to play more positively and be better from it."
 
Despite nine ties early in the opening set, Marquette used a 9-0 run – led by strong service from Bailey and five block assists from Schnurr – to turn a 14-12 deficit into a 21-14 lead.
 
The Panthers could not find a way to get into set two, trailing 5-2 early before another 12-5 spurt made it 17-7 on the way to a 25-12 win.
 
The third set started closer, but the Marquette block continued to wear on UWM. The Golden Eagles built an 11-3 lead and led comfortably the rest of the way.
 
The match can be viewed on Time Warner Cable SportsChannel in Wisconsin beginning Wednesday, Nov. 5 at 7 p.m. Matt Menzl (play-by-play) and Michelle Griffin-Wenzel (analyst) had the call.
 
Up next, the Panthers host a pair of key league matches, starting Friday at 7 p.m. when they take on Youngstown State.