The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee opened up league play in Chicago with a three-game sweep of the University of Illinois at Chicago.

It was business as usual for senior Jamie Gabrielsen who led the team in kills as the Panthers won impressively, 30-23, 30-19 and 30-25.

The Panthers have now improved to 9-1 overall and 1-0 in Horizon League play with the win and have now won nine-straight times after dropping their first match of the year to Wisconsin.

Other notable performances came from junior Becky Peters who continued her solid play this year earning nine kills and a team high 19 digs, while sophomore Maddie Sueppel chipped in with 11 kills.

In the first game the Panthers took control early with an 11-10 lead and never looked back. The Flames made things interesting as they pulled within two points, 20-18, but Peters came up with a big kill that started a run that would eventually finish with a Breit Nelson ace for the win.

In the second game the Panthers followed the same recipe for success by taking control early and coasting to an easy 30-19 victory. The Panthers never looked back after taking the lead 7-6. For every run the Flames made, the Panthers had an answer. The game would eventually end on a block by Leanne Felsing and Sueppel.

The third game turned out to be a bit more of a challenge; however, the Panthers showed why they are the team to beat in the conference and stood strong winning 30-25. With the Panthers leading comfortably throughout the match the Flames made a late push and pulled within one, 25-24. A kill by Sueppel ignited a late run that included kills by Felsing and Peters, and a block from Natalie Schmitting and Felsing.

The Panthers didn’t slow down in their second match as they extended their winning streak to 10 with a three-game sweep of Loyola, 34-32, 32-30 and 30-28.

Gabrielsen did what she does best and led the team in kills for the second-straight night with 19. Felsing recorded another triple-double in the contest for the sixth time this season.

This match, however, was not as easy as the match against the Flames. The Panthers had to rally in all three games to come from behind. In the first game the Panthers stumbled out of the blocks falling behind by four in the early goings, but after a nice rally the Panthers found themselves ahead 24-21. Loyola came back and had the Panthers at game-point three times before eventually relinquishing the lead and losing a tight game, 34-32.

In game two the Ramblers came out on fire, racking up an early 11-1 lead, but the Panthers were able to recover and slowly work their way into a tie at 21. The Ramblers later put themselves back ahead and looked to be in control with a 27-22 lead, only to see it diminish quickly as the Panthers scored six straight to take the lead 28-27. UWM then found themselves fighting off game-point at 30-29, but a kill by Gabrielsen and Sueppell followed by a block finished the game and gave the Panthers a 2-0 lead.

No surprise to anyone, the third game was just as tight as the first two and saw neither team lead by more then three throughout the game. In the end the Panthers were able to squeeze out a victory by the slight margin of 30-28.

The Panthers will be traveling to DeKab, Ill. for their next contest as they take a break from conference play and face off with Northern Illinois on Tuesday, Sept. 18.

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