Kelley Olson led the way with a career-high 16 kills, as the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee volleyball team claimed, at worst, a share of their fifth-straight Horizon League regular season title in Green Bay over the weekend, defeating the Phoenix; 30-23, 30-28, 28-30, 29-31 and 15-8.

“[Olson] is really peeking at the right moment and has been playing with a lot of confidence, and we have really needed that in these last few games,” fellow senior Jamie Gabrielsen commented.

It was the defense that came up big for the Panthers, as five different players reached double figures in digs and three of those players reaching 20 or more. The Felsing sisters led the way, with Lauren Felsing notching a team-high 27 dig, while big sister Leanne Felsing chipped in for 25 digs as part of her 15th triple-double.

The Panthers (23-2, 13-1 Horizon) offense also spread things around with six different players reaching double figures in kills. Leanne Felsing contributed 14 kills, while Gabrielsen and Natalie Schmitting tallied 13 apiece and Becky Peters and Maddie Sueppel rounding out the group with 10 kills each.

The Panthers looked like they were on their way to an easy three game sweep, however the Phoenix charged back and forced the decisive game five. However, once it did reach game five the Panthers wasted little time finishing the match on an Olson kill and two Green Bay errors.

“We just made a decision after the fourth game that we are the better team and we needed to go out there and prove it,” Gabrielsen said. “We just became more aggressive with our blocking and really started hitting harder in the fifth game than we did in games three and four.”

With the win the Panthers have now become the only team in league history to win five-straight regular season titles. A win or a Cleveland State loss next week will give the Panthers the title outright.

In the first game the Panthers came out hot, taking an early lead of 18-10. After a Peters kill the Panthers pushed their lead to 21-12 and would not let the Phoenix come any closer, eventually finishing the game 30-23.

In the second game the Phoenix never saw the lead, but kept it close throughout pulling within one at 27-26. The Panthers were then able to push their lead to 29-26, but the Phoenix made things interesting cutting the Panthers lead back to 29-28, only to see a kill from Gabrielsen close the door on the game.

In the third game the Phoenix looked like they were going to run away with the game, but the Panthers using a late rally were able to gain the lead at 27-26, but only for a moment. A UWM error would follow along with a block by the Phoenix and two kills by Liesl Tesch to keep the match alive.

Green Bay would finish the fourth game on a late rally after Milwaukee led 21-16. The Phoenix were able to grab the lead at 25-24 and 28-26 only to watch the Panthers tie things back up at 28. But it was Tesch once again with two kills that would push the match to game five, only to see her team fall 15-8.

The Panthers will close out their regular season on the road next weekend against Wright State on Friday night and Butler Saturday afternoon.

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