MILWAUKEE, Wis. – The Milwaukee volleyball team continued to improve throughout the match on Friday night as it dispatched Northern Kentucky 3-1 in front of a packed Klotsche Center crowd of over 700 fans. The Panthers now own the longest winning streak in the nation as they captured their 15th straight victory.
 
"It was a great crowd tonight and so exciting," head coach Susie Johnson commented. "We were so happy we had people out and It gave the team more energy"
 
Numbers don't always tell the full story as Northern Kentucky (10-8, 3-3 Horizon League) edged Milwaukee (18-1, 5-0 Horizon League) in nearly every statistical category in the first frame. The Panthers landed important points down the stretch, however, as Kleja Cerniauskaite put away two kills and Jess Grabowski landed a service ace to pull ahead 24-21.
 
The Norse got one back after an error from the Panthers, but Milwaukee grabbed a 1-0 advantage in the match thanks to a Northern Kentucky miscue.
 
Any momentum the Panthers earned from the first quickly faded as Northern Kentucky ran out to a 5-1 lead early on in the second. The Norse held the lead until a kill from Kylie Wilks and three straight serves from Jenna Miller put Milwaukee in front 10-8.
 
Northern Kentucky responded with a 5-0 run of their own and would not let Milwaukee back in, hitting .387 with 16 kills in the frame. The Norse defense held Milwaukee to 13 kills as they evened up the match 1-1 with a 25-22 victory.
 
Another strong start from the Norse was quickly wiped away in the third set as Cerniauskaite and the Panthers began to find holes in the NKU defense. The sophomore put away nine kills and hit .562 in the set as she led Milwaukee to a 25-21 victory.
 
"Kleja just needed to get in a better rhythm and it worked," Johnson continued. "She was very determined tonight to get better and better. She's getting better, stronger, and more confident which is what we need."
 
As a team, the Panthers were free-swinging as they landed 20 kills in the set. Defense was key in the third as well as Milwaukee recorded 31 digs and held a strong Norse offense to just 12 kills.
 
Up 2-1, Milwaukee was in control of the match and it began to show in the fourth. The teams traded points back and forth early, but the Panthers were finding their spots, landing kills from five different players.
 
Leading 8-7, two Northern Kentucky errors and kills from Louise Kiekhofer and Ari Miller had Milwaukee up with a cushion. The Norse recorded a kill but Cerniauskaite, Carmen Heilemann, and Kiekhofer responded with slams of their won for a 15-9 advantage.
 
The Norse tried to close the gap but Heilemann and Wilks combined for a trio of kills down the stretch and Milwaukee took a 25-20 set victory to claim the match 3-1.
 
"We talked about taking riskier swings," Johnson said. "The team needed to trust themselves, so we started talking about that and taking better approaches. I'm really proud of them."
 
Cerniauskaite led four in double digit kills with 15, hitting .306 for the Panthers. A. Miller put away 12 of her 24 swings with a .333 attack percentage.
 
Wilks earned her third double-double and second in three matches as she totaled 10 kills and 13 digs.
 
Rylie Vaughn dished up a team-high 32 assists to go along with seven digs while Jenn Dore added 15 assists and eight digs.
 
Grabowski and the defense totaled 70 digs, with 23 coming from the sophomore.
 
Milwaukee will now hit the road for a contest at Oakland on Sunday, October 13. The 4:00 pm contest will feature live stats, which can be found on MKEPanthers.com.