A 12-match winning streak for the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women’s volleyball team ended its regular season. The Panthers played guest to both Butler and Wright State and showed both teams why they were the 2006 Horizon League Champions, beating each in only three games.

On Friday, the Panthers (21-5, 13-1) shut out the Bulldogs (8-20, 3-10) in a quick three games. Senior Sarah Moore led the team with a .812 hitting percentage, second best in a three-game match in school history, and the Panthers followed with a .267 hitting percent in the three wins, 30-17, 30-25 and 30-21.

UWM’s offense led them through the match. In the first game they took a quick 14-9 lead which grew to 19-10, and Butler wouldn’t get any closer from there.

In the second game when it looked as though Butler had a chance when they were only down 22-21, Moore and senior Melissa David went on a streak with back-to-back kills. A deadly ace by freshman Kellye Zaporski ended Butler’s chances for game two.

Game three came would close out the match. The Panthers, on a 14-5 run, turned it up to lead 22-9 before Butler closed in to make it 25-19, but the streak for the Bulldogs would come up short, losing 30-21.

Wright State (14-16, 8-6) hosted a dominating UWM team. In their 12th-straight win the Panthers would step it up on offense and defense. Cheryl Hegemann led the team with 19 kills and 15 digs.

Overall the Panthers had three players in double figures for digs, Leanne Felsing with 15, Becky Peters with 13 and Hegemann with 15. Sarah Moore added 12 kills and Melissa David helped with her 9 kills to lead the Panthers to a season-ending win.

Scoring eight of the first nine points, and going on a quick run and never looking back, the Panthers ran up the score 19-10. The Wright State Raiders came back to within five, but a kill by Hegemann finished off the game.

The Raiders looked strong in the second game and pulled out to a 9-5 lead early. A comeback by UWM led them up by a point, 17-16, but the Raiders couldn’t keep up as the Panthers put up a 30-25 win in game two.

The dominating Panthers controlled game three just the way they wanted, by having the lead the entire game. WSU would commit three straight errors to put the Panthers up 27-18, and it was set in stone with kills from Hegemann and David.

The top-seeded Panthers will play eighth-seeded Youngstown State in the Horizon League Tournament next weekend. Wright State will host the tournament in Dayton, Ohio. The game time is yet to be decided.

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