Box Score

EAST LANSING, Mich. - The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee volleyball team continued its trek through one of its toughest non-conference schedules in recent memory, falling to No. 25 Michigan State Saturday night, 25-19, 25-8, 25-16, in the Auto-Owners Insurance Spartan Invitational.

The Spartans (7-4) bounced back after being upset Friday, sweeping the Panthers (5-8) in three sets. The Milwaukee offense could not get going on the night, hitting .073, but the team still came close in the first and last sets of the night despite never being able to put it all together.

"That was a very tough match," Milwaukee head coach Susie Johnson said. "Michigan State is a really good team and will keep moving up in the Top 25."

Senior Julie Kolinske, who went over 1,000 kills in her career Friday, tied for the team lead with sophomore Myanna Ruiz with six kills each.

"It was a hard match, but I felt like we made them work for their points," Johnson said. "We battled and we hung in there, especially in the first and third sets, but could not get everything going like we needed to in a match like this."

Senior Taylor Golabowski added 13 digs on defense and was named to the all-tournament team for the weekend. Starting setter Kayla Price missed the match, with junior Taylor Gruber and Ruiz stepping in with 10 assists each.

The first set was very close and was tied, 5-5, before the Spartans would go on an 8-1 run to take what looked like a commanding 13-6 advantage. The Panthers battled right back, however, as Ruiz had back-to-back kills to help UWM battle back and pull within three at 16-13.
 
Michigan State fended off the Panthers from there, taking nine of the final 15 points to earn the 25-19 victory.Set two was all Spartans, racing out to a 10-5 lead before ripping off 10 unanswered to put it away.

Milwaukee settled down and responded well to start the third. Back-and-forth, a kill by senior Hannah Blanchard made it 5-4. It was still just a two point deficit for Milwaukee at 11-9, only to see MSU roll up a 7-1 run and take a commanding 18-10 lead en route to a 25-16 decision.It's back home for the Panthers next, as the team starts Horizon League play. Picked to win the regular-season championship yet again this season, UWM welcomes UIC to the Klotsche Center Friday for a 7 p.m. start.