Skip To Main Content

Milwaukee Athletics

Skip Ad
recap northwestern
3
Winner Northwestern NU 3-0
1
Milwaukee MKE 0-3
Winner
Northwestern NU
3-0
3
Final
1
Milwaukee MKE
0-3
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Northwestern NU 25 25 25 25 (3)
Milwaukee MKE 23 27 20 16 (1)

Game Recap: Women's Volleyball |

Northwestern Escapes Milwaukee’s Upset Bid

Mroczenski tallies career-high 12 kills

MILWAUKEE – Makenzie Mroczenski tallied a career-high 12 kills, six digs and four blocks in a near upset for the Milwaukee volleyball team Saturday, falling just short to Northwestern, 3-1, from the Klotsche Center.
 
In a much improved all-around effort, the young Panthers nearly claimed a win over the Big Ten foe before coming up just short, 23-25, 27-25, 20-25, 16-25.
 
"To turn around and have to play less than 24 hours (after playing two matches the day before) with our inexperienced team – I thought they had an excellent focus and attitude," Milwaukee head coach Susie Johnson said. "They were able to make adjustments within the match and I was really impressed with that. That isn't that easy to do really at any age, and the fact that we could do that and block so well against a Big Ten school, I'm pretty proud of that."
 
Mroczenski led the Milwaukee attack with her career-high 12 kills, while Shari Volpis added nine and Kylie Wilks another eight.
 
The MKE defense was on full display Saturday. Five different Panthers registered at least a share of two blocks, with freshman Kleja Cerniauskaite tallying seven. Newcomer Shanon Volpis added another six, while freshman Abby Koenen notched three – two of the solo variety. In all, the Black & Gold finished with 14 total team blocks in the four-setter – more than all but one outing from a season ago.
 
In the back row, freshman Jess Grabowski had a career-high 20 digs, while Wilks added another 10.
 
That all-around defensive effort held Northwestern to just a .169 hitting clip – their lowest on the young season.
 
Milwaukee started off the matinee with a back-and-forth opening frame and nearly pulled off the first-set victory were it not for a 5-0 run by NU late.
 
After Northwestern jumped out to a 12-6 lead to start the second, MKE responded nicely – clawing their way back and tying things up at 23-all. Mroczenski then took over with a kill and a solo block as things were knotted up at 25-25. After an NU error, Wilks closed the door with one of her two aces on the day.
 
It was much of the same in the third as the Wildcats started with an 8-4 advantage, only to see MKE tie things back up at 10-10. Milwaukee refused to quit the rest of the way, keeping things close before ultimately falling just short of the upset bid.
 
The Panthers will continue their busy start to the season, heading to DeKalb, Ill. Tuesday to take on the Northern Illinois Huskies at 6 pm from Victor E. Court.
 
 
Print Friendly Version