For the first time since 2002, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women’s volleyball team will be dancing into the NCAA Tournament.

Monica Ferguson compiled a collegiate-best 17 kills and Melissa David added 13, as the Panthers swept the University of Illinois-Chicago, 30-24, 30-23, 30-22, to claim the Horizon League Tournament title.

Cheryl Hegemann added nine kills while tournament most valuable player Sarah Moore chipped in with eight for UWM, which was very solid offensively, hitting .302 in the contest. UWM (24-5) has won a school-record 15 straight matches.

“I am just so proud of this team and so proud of the seniors with the way they stepped up,” UWM head coach Kathy Litzau said. “This team came into this match on a mission, and they weren’t going to leave this gym without a championship.”

UWM never trailed after the early points of each game and UIC never got closer than five points in any of the three games.

Ambria Springer led UIC (17-17) with 14 kills, but the Panthers never let the Flames get on track.

“At times this weekend, I thought we played not to lose. But today, we clearly played to win,” Litzau said. “Any time we got rattled in the match, we never let it become a long run and we maintained control. We were composed and relaxed and didn’t sit back waiting for UIC to make an error. We were the aggressors and made the plays.”

In the first game, UWM took the lead for good at 15-14 on a kill by Leanne Felsing. The Flames would not get any closer than three points the rest of the way, with an ace by Felsing making it 25-19 and a kill by David extending the score to 26-19. The Panthers closed out the game on a tip kill by Ferguson.

In game two, the Panthers coasted fairly easily after going up 6-5 and never trailing after that. The Flames got as close as 17-16, but the Panthers quickly responded with kills from Jamie Gabrielsen, Felsing and Ferguson to lead 20-16. A kill by David put the Panthers in control at 26-19 and they closed the deal on a kill by Ferguson.

The third game was very similar to the second. UWM took the lead at 5-4 and never looked back. The advantage grew to 25-16 late in the game off of kills by David and Moore. The Flames tried to mount one last push cutting the lead to 27-22 but the Panthers responded with the final three points to clinch the title.

“It was so great to see Monica and ‘D’ play so well on the outside,” Litzau said. “At times, we have to rely on Cheryl and Sarah in the middle, and those two did play well and did their jobs. But it was great to see us have so many people really bang away at the net tonight.”

UWM’s opponent in the first round of the NCAA Tournament was not known at the time of publication.

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