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Panthers prevail in 5-set win
Trawitzke sets collegiate-high with 13 digs
By Paul Fladten
The game was close throughout until momentum shifted when Trawitzke hammered down a huge spike making the score 11- 9 in favor of Milwaukee.
It would take five sets for UW-Milwaukee volleyball team to hold onto a hard-fought victory over the University of Illinois-Chicago Wednesday night at the Klotsche Center; 25-23, 25-23, 23-25, 23-25 and 15-12.
Early on it looked as though the Panthers (12-5, 5-1 in Horizon) may have been able to get by on three straight sets, but fatigue and miscues eventually forced them into a deciding fifth set.
In the first set the Panthers started out very strong. They won the first three points, but then had to constantly battle to remain in control of the game. Samantha Trawitzke, who had a collegiate-high 13 digs, played an amazing first game. The ball seemed to find Trawitzke on nearly every play, and when it did find her she seemed to set the ball perfectly to one of her teammates for an opportunity to score. The lead remained close until the very end of the game when Trawitzke served for the final two points. The Panthers managed to hold onto game one by a score of 25-23.
The second game was eerily similar to the first. Junior Lauren Felsing, who extended her consecutive games with double-digit digs to 42, did a remarkable job throughout the game at digging out nearly every ball hit over the net. She sacrificed her body a number of times and really pumped up her teammates on her way to notching 30 digs on the night. The Panthers went on to win the second game by the same score of 25-23. Maddie Sueppel and Kerri Schuh chimed in with some punishing kills throughout this game as well.
After the intermission the Panthers came out very sluggish in the next two games. Despite Natalie Chery bringing a spark off the bench, the team was unable to close out the Flames (6-11, 1-5 in Horizon) in the third or fourth games. Fatigue seemed to set in as the Panthers lost game three 23-25, and game four by the same score.
The Flames seemed to be capitalizing on mistakes in the same manner that Milwaukee had in the previous games, but in the fifth and deciding game the Panthers took back control.
The game was close throughout until momentum shifted when Trawitzke hammered down a huge spike making the score 11- 9 in favor of Milwaukee. UWM capitalized on a beautiful drop shot by Maddie Sueppel and then finally captured the victory as Becky Peters, who had 17 kills on the night, and Mackenzie Millis blocked a final shot from the Flames.
Susie Johnson’s players looked more relieved than excited as their crowd erupted. It was a tough and challenging game for the Panthers, but it was a game in which they ultimately persevered. The Panthers have now won 33-straight regular season home league matches, almost losing at home to UIC for the first time since 1994.
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