MILWAUKEE, Wis. – The Milwaukee volleyball team jumped ahead early and rallied back in the third set to sweep Youngstown State for the second time this season. Jess Grabowski eclipsed 1,000 digs for the Panthers and the Milwaukee defense held its third straight opponent under .150 attack percentage to move to 8-1 in the Horizon League.
 
"The team was really focused tonight," head coach Susie Johnson commented. "We can catch teams off guard in the beginning and then it's a matter of closing it out. We switched to our outside hitters and gave them opportunities and they executed well."
 
Milwaukee (21-2, 8-1 Horizon League) got things rolling right away, putting away four consecutive kills to open the match. Youngstown (8-14, 2-7 Horizon League) responded with a 10-4 run to force a timeout and whatever Johnson said in the huddle worked because the Panthers regained the lead following a 5-1 swing.
 
A kill from the Penguins pulled the visitors within one but Carmen Heilemann cashed in for three kills to put Milwaukee on top 17-13. Back-to-back errors kept YSU around but three kills from Ari Miller and another from Kylie Wilks put MKE in control with a 25-16 victory.
 
It was all Milwaukee early on in the second as the defense allowed YSU to tally just three kills in the set. The Panthers ran out to a 12-4 lead and continued to pour it on, forcing a Penguins timeout at 20-9.
 
Following a Youngstown State kill, three Penguins errors and kills from Shari Volpis and Kleja Cerniauskaite handed Milwaukee a 2-0 lead in the match with a 25-12 victory.
 
After being held to just 12 kills with 16 errors in the first two sets, the Penguins came out in the third looking like a different team. YSU tallied 14 kills with just four errors as it grabbed a lead at 8-7 and kept Milwaukee at arms' length.
 
Down 19-14, it looked like the match might be going to a fourth set, but the Volplis had another idea. The senior attacker put away four kills as Jenn Dore served up eight straight points for a 22-19 advantage.
 
Youngstown responded with three straight to tie it 22-22 but kills from Makenzie Mroczenski and Wilks paired with a Mati Jakscht service ace gave Milwaukee the sweep.
 
Volpis led three in double digits with 13 kills, hitting .357 for Milwaukee. A. Miller and Heilemann each chipped in 10.
 
"I do think that our team is really competitive. People are waiting for their opportunity," Johnson continued. "All 18 are working so hard in practice. Shari was waiting for her opportunity, got it tonight and really capitalized."
 
Dore registered her sixth double-double of the year and third in the last four matches with 22 assists and 11 digs.
 
Grabowski totaled 15 digs for the Panthers, putting her over 1,000 for her career. The sophomore is just outside the top-10 in career digs for Milwaukee.

Milwaukee will close a five match homestand tomorrow afternoon, hosting Cleveland State at 4:00 pm for the College of Nursing Pink Game. Tickets, live stats, and live video on ESPN3 are available on MKEPanthers.com.