Box Score SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - Seniors
Hannah Blanchard and
Julie Kolinske each recorded double-digit kills to lead the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee volleyball team to a 3-0 sweep of the University of the Incarnate Word Friday evening at the Hammons Student Center.
The Panthers (4-1) were in control from start to finish against the Cardinals (1-4), closing out action in the first day of the University Plaza/Dr. Mary Jo Wynn Invitational with the 25-19, 25-16, 25-19 victory.
"We had a great response to our earlier match of the day," Milwaukee head coach
Susie Johnson said. "Our team played very well together and all of the parts of the team were flowing very well."
In addition to the 11 kills apiece by the senior duo, junior
Nicole Latzig added six kills on a .556 hitting percentage and sophomore
Myanna Ruiz finished with eight kills and 15 digs. Junior
Kayla Price contributed 35 assists and senior
Taylor Golabowski helped lead the defense with 14 digs of her own.
"As a group, I would like to say they were very good," Johnson said. "We were in a very good rhythm and that is all you can ask. We were able to finish plays and that is nice to see when you play twice in one day like we did today."
Angelique Vidaurri paced UIW with 11 kills, as the UWM defense limited its opponent to a .104 hitting percentage on the day.
Up 2-0, the Panthers closed it out in the third with a commanding run in the middle of the set. Up just 9-8, Milwaukee went on a 9-3 spurt as a kill by sophomore
Kaisa Mattson made it 18-11 and it cruised to the sweep from there. The defense limited the Cardinals to a .081 hitting clip in the final set.
The middle set was all UWM early, but Incarnate Word battled back. The Panthers took leads of 7-1 and 9-3, only to see the Cardinals respond and get within two at 9-7. A Price ace capped an 8-3 run and made it 17-11, but UIW rallied back to 17-13.Kills by Kolinske and Blanchard made it 19-13 and forced a timeout. Back-to-back kills by Blanchard made it 24-16 and Ruiz ended it on the next rally.
Milwaukee trailed just once on the day, down 5-3 early in set one, before reeling off five of six points to take a 10-7 lead on a Ruiz kill. The scoreline was back to 12-12 and UWM led just 15-14 before going on a hot streak to end it. Ruiz's next kill capped a 7-2 run to get to 23-16 and that was it.The Panthers return to action tomorrow morning at 10:30 a.m., taking on Western Kentucky in their first match of the day.
