UWM Returns Home For Big WeekendOct. 13, 2003
Weekly Release in PDF Format
UWM returns to the Klotsche Center for a pair of league matches, facing Wright State Friday night and Butler late Saturday afternoon. Last Week For the second year in a row, UWM had great success in the Windy City, winning matches at UIC and Loyola. Friday night at UIC, the Panthers won the first two games before dropping the third game. They then hit .349 in the fourth game to claim the win. Saturday at Loyola, UWM rebounded from dropping the first game to win the final three frames and claim victory at Loyola for the second-straight season. Another Fast Start UWM is 5-0 in league play for the first time since 1999. In each of the previous three seasons, the Panthers stood 4-1 after five matches. In 1999, UWM won its first eight league contests before falling to Loyola. Loving October UWM has won its first three matches in what has often been its best month of the season. In the last six-plus seasons, UWM is 52-4 in October, including unbeaten Octobers in 1999 (7-0) and 2000 (9-0). UWM went 8-1 last October, with its only loss coming to nationally-ranked Northern Iowa. Already Talking 20 The Panthers' 16 wins so far this year put them well within sight of a seventh-straight 20-win campaign. Last year, UWM needed to win the league tournament to get to the 20-win plateau, but this year - not counting any league tournament matches - UWM needs just four wins in its final nine matches to secure 20 victories. Celebrating 200 Speaking of victories, UWM head coach Kathy Litzau claimed her 200th career win Saturday at Loyola. Her overall mark stands at 200-126. Litzau is one of just two coaches in UWM's Division I history. Tom Pleyte won 552 matches in 15 years at UWM, though the bulk of those were spent on the NAIA level and UWM played roughly 60 matches per season. The Fruits Of Labor Junior Karen Fruit stepped to the forefront in each match this weekend in Chicago. She tallied 16 kills and 18 digs Friday night at UIC before collecting 20 kills and 14 digs Saturday at Loyola. She hit .361 in the two matches and is hitting .288 in league play. Fruit leads the Panthers in both kills and digs this season and has surpassed the 20-kill mark on six different occasions already this season. Block Party UWM has been blocking at a record clip over its last three matches. After setting a season-high with 14 blocks in its four-game win over UW-Green Bay Oct. 3, the Panthers came back with 16.5 blocks in the win over Loyola Saturday. The Panthers have 40.5 blocks in their last three contests and 162.5 blocks for the season. Hegemann Heads Up The Party Freshman Cheryl Hegemann has been a standout all season long for the Panthers and this past weekend was no exception. She had seven kills in each of the matches against UIC and Loyola and had 10 blocks against the Ramblers, the second time this season she has gone into double-figures in blocks. In a four-game win over UW-Green Bay a week earlier, Hegemann added a career-high 11 blocks to her 10 kills. The 11 blocks tied a school-record for blocks in a four-game match. Hegemann has made the biggest impact among a group of five true freshmen on the Panther roster this season, standing sixth on the team in kills and tied for second in blocks. Mighty Melissa Freshman Melissa David is seeing more time in the lineup and she continues to shine. She collected 12 kills and six blocks while hitting .478 in a win over Loyola. The best performance of her young career came Oct. 3 against UW-Green Bay when she tallied a game-high 14 kills and five digs in the four-game win while starting in place of the injured Sarah Potts. David started the first match of the season against William & Mary when Karen Fruit missed the match due to a family wedding, but between then and Oct. 3 had appeared in just eight games over a span of 15 matches. Injury Update Senior Sarah Potts has missed the last three contests due to a back injury and remains out. Potts, an all-league performer last year, is second on the team in both kills and digs this season. Double Trouble Junior Karen Fruit collected her 11th and 12th double-doubles of the season this weekend in Chicago. Fruit and senior Sarah Potts have been making a habit of reaching double-figures in kills and in tallying double-doubles this year. Potts has 10 double-doubles and has been in double figures in 13 of 16 matches she has played in, while Fruit has 12 double-doubles but has been in double figures in 17 of her 18 matches. Sweet Home Chicago UWM claimed its third sweep of its Chicago road trip in the last five years last weekend and won both matches on the trip for the second-straight year. UWM does now own a 14-match winning streak over UIC. Standing Out In The League With two more wins in league play this past weekend, the Panthers added to their mark as the league's top team over the past six-plus season. Since 1997, UWM is 72-9 in league play - easily the best mark among league teams. Plus, the Panthers have not finished below second place in the league since the 1996 season. Picked To Win UWM has been selected as the odds-on favorite to win the 2003 Horizon League Volleyball title, according to a poll of the league's coaches. The Panthers were the favorite for the top spot in voting amongst the other league coaches. Loyola, which has won the last two regular-season league titles, was picked to finish second in the league. Crushin' Them In Klotsche UWM has won 72 of its last 78 home matches and won eight of 11 home matches last year. Overall, the home court advantage in the Kathy Litzau era is impressive, with the Panthers compiling a 96-28 mark. On The Road A Lot UWM has spent plenty of time on the road in the first six weeks of the season. The Panthers have played 12 of their 19 games away from Milwaukee, but have experienced plenty of success. UWM is 5-1 on an opponent's home floor and 5-1 on neutral floors so far this season. There are plenty of road tests ahead for the Panthers, though, who will finish the season with five of seven matches away from home and then will play the league tournament in Indianapolis at Hinkle Fieldhouse. A Happy First 30 Days The first "month" of the season actually included two days in August, but with the final match of the month of September now complete, UWM can celebrate its best first month of the season since 1999. The 13 wins tie a record for victories through September for the Panthers, while only the 13-1 mark in 1999 bests this year's 13-3 record. Last September, thanks to an immensely difficult schedule the included six NCAA Tournament participants and 12-straight matches away from home, UWM won just five matches. Leading The League As you would expect, UWM finds itself near the top of the league charts in a number of statistical categories. The Panthers lead the Horizon League in hitting percentage while standing second in kills per game and assists. Individually, Karen Fruit is third in the league in kills while Sarah Potts stands eighth. Larissa Cattanach (3rd) and Cheryl Hegemann (6th) are in the top 10 for hitting percentage while Lindsey Spoden stands third in assists per game. Tough Slate UWM coach Kathy Litzau put together another difficult non-league slate in 2003 and the Panthers handled it with flying colors. UWM went 4-0 against Conference USA teams, beating Marquette, DePaul, St. Louis and Charlotte, while splitting two matches with teams from the Big 10. Two of UWM's three losses came to nationally-recognized teams, with Colorado State standing 20th in the latest AVCA and poll and Minnesota receiving votes in that same national poll. Illinois State, the team responsible for UWM's other loss, is near the top of the Missouri Valley. Moving Up The Charts A number of Panthers have been sliding up the career charts at UWM this season. Lindsey Spoden became the all-time assists leader earlier this year. Sarah Potts has moved up to 5th in career kills with 971, while Larissa Cattanach stands 6th with 873. Spoden went past 1,000 career digs two weekends ago and stands fourth all-time with 1,045. Potts is seventh with 885. Spoden also stands second all-time in assists with 4,713 while Cattanach is up to third in blocks with 308. Triple-Double Your Fun After coming close a number of times over her career, senior setter Lindsey Spoden came through with her first triple-double Sept. 13 against Sacramento State. She tallied 10 kills, 15 digs and 62 assists, with the 10th kill coming as the match-winner in the fifth game. She is the first Panther to record a triple-double since Kristen Fitzgerald did it on Sept. 22, 1996. The triple-double came just four nights after Spoden nearly pulled it off against DePaul, recording 11 kills and 55 assists to go with eight digs. 20-20 Vision Lindsey Spoden wasn't the only Panther to mark a statistical accomplishment at the Powerade Panther Invitational. Sarah Potts and Karen Fruit each entered the 20-20 club for the first time in their careers against Sacramento State. Fruit collected 22 kills and 24 digs while Potts had 21 kills and 24 digs. They became the first pair of Panthers to enter the 20-20 club in the same match since Laura Dallenbach and Chrissy Schurla did it Nov. 4, 2000. Tourney Titles Everywhere UWM won back-to-back in-season tournament titles this season for the first time since the 1999 season. The title at the Billiken Invitational in the first week of the season was the first title since 2000 for UWM. The Panthers then followed that up by winning the Rocket Classic. Panther Tournament Honors With four tournaments during non-league play, a number of Panthers took home hardware for their individual performances. In week one at St. Louis, Lindsey Spoden was named the tournament MVP and was joined on the all-tourney team by Karen Fruit and Rachel Kuebbing. In week two at Toledo, Larissa Cattanach took home MVP honors and was joined on the all-tournament team by Spoden and Karen Fruit. In week three at the Panther Invitational, Spoden and Potts made the all-tournament team, while in week four at the Diet Coke Classic, Potts was the representative from UWM on the all-tourney squad. Player Of The Week ... Again Lindsey Spoden has already been named the Horizon League Player of the Week twice this season. Along with her triple-double and her 11-kill effort against DePaul, Spoden led the Panthers to three wins and hit nearly .500 Sept. 9-13. She has also moved past 4,400 assists for her career and continues to have a chance to become UWM's all-time assists leader by the end of this season. Spoden was also named the Horizon League Player of the Week after leading the Panthers to three wins in week one. Fast Start UWM's 7-0 start this season was the best by a Panther team since the 1999 season, when UWM opened with a win over ninth-ranked Wisconsin and was eventually 9-0 before dropping a match. The all-time school best is a 12-0 opening in 1988, when the Panthers were still an NAIA team. Up Next
UWM goes back to the road, traveling to Ohio for matches with Youngstown State and Cleveland State.
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