Those women are really in a groove. Riding a four-match winning streak coming into last week, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee volleyball team rolled through Oral Roberts, Cleveland State and Youngstown State to stretch their streak to seven.

UWM last lost to Loyola University, in Chicago on Oct. 6.

Oral Roberts of the Mid-Continent Conference put up a fight against the Panthers, but fell short, losing 30-16, 30-24 and 30-27. The victory for Milwaukee ended a 15-match winning streak by the Golden Eagles, who are first place in the MCC.

Nicole Vilter and Sarah Moore paced the Panthers with 11 kills each, followed closely by Cheryl Hegemann (10) and Jamie Gabrielsen (9). Oral Roberts never had a chance in the first game, as UWM jumped out to a 13-4 lead, one that they never relinquished.

While both the second and third games were close contests, Milwaukee held its ground and came out with the victory.

With a little help from Wright State, Milwaukee took the lead in the Horizon League on Friday night. Wright State defeated the University of Illinois-Chicago in a five-game set, and the Panthers took down Cleveland State 3-1, upending the leadership on top of the conference.

Cleveland State got off to a fast start, defeating UWM 30-28 in the first game. The rest of the contest belonged to the Panthers, however, as Milwaukee claimed successes of 30-22, 30-27 and 30-27 to shut down the Vikings.

Hegemann knocked down 16 kills to power the Panthers to victory.

Milwaukee took a short bus ride to Youngstown on Saturday to face the Penguins of Youngstown State. Unlike Cleveland State, the Penguins never put up a fight.

Hegemann once again led the Panthers with 18 kills, absolutely destroying the ball right into the Penguins’ side of the court. Leanne Felsing and Melissa David contributed 12 kills each to the effort, and Felsing had assists on 21 points.

Freshman Kellye Zaporski led the team with an eye-popping 30 assists, and she followed that up with 11 digs. The Panthers took the match, 30-24, 30-21 and 30-21.

The Panthers return to action next week when they take on UW-Green Bay Friday night in Green Bay.

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