MILWAUKEE, Wis. – Four reached double digit kills as the Milwaukee volleyball team took down its third straight conference foe in a five-set thriller. The Panthers (16-1, 3-0 Horizon League) dropped the first against Cleveland State (4-10, 0-3 Horizon League) but battled back and took down the Vikings for their 13th straight victory.
 
"They served really well and were aggressive all match," head coach Susie Johnson stated. "They had us disorganized, but we settled down and were back to playing our game in the second and fourth sets. Overall, another team effort. We had to have some grit in that one and I'm glad we came out ahead."
 
The Panthers opened up their Ohio trip with 16 kills and a .238 attack percentage in the first, but Cleveland State could do no wrong as they landed 14 slams with just two errors. The Vikings jumped ahead early and combatted each Milwaukee kill, putting the visitors in a 1-0 hole.
 
In the second, the Panthers again found themselves in a hole, down five at 17-12, but had no intentions of going away. Louise Kiekhofer put away three kills, fueling an 8-1 run to put Milwaukee on top 20-18.
 
The Vikings stopped the run with a kill but an attack from Carmen Heilemann coupled with two Cleveland State errors had Milwaukee on top 23-19. Heilemann again landed a kill paired with a Vikings error gave the Panthers a 25-21 victory and tied the match 1-1.
 
Cleveland State responded in a big way, hitting .341 with 18 kills in the third frame. The Vikings limited Milwaukee to just seven kills as the Panthers fell 25-16 and stared into another deficit.
 
After a back and forth start to the fourth frame, Jenna Miller served up seven straight Panther points, as Milwaukee ran up to a 17-8 advantage. The junior landed a pair of aces during the run to put the Panthers in a comfortable lead.
 
Cleveland State cut its deficit to eight, but Kiekhofer, Kylie Wilks, and Ari Miller put away kills in a 5-1 run as Milwaukee forced a deciding fifth set with a convincing 25-13 win.
 
Early on in the fifth, it was all Milwaukee as Kiekhofer and Kleja Cerniauskaite each put away a pair of kills toward an 8-3 Panthers run. The home Vikings responded, partnering Milwaukee errors with a few kills to tie it 10-10.
 
A. Miller took over from there, slamming three straight kills for Milwaukee to keep pace with Cleveland State at 13-13. A. Miller again came through with her team-high 16th kill of the match and the Vikings final attack was just wide to give the Panthers' their 13th straight victory.
 
"Ari really came through for us in the end with a couple of kills," Johnson commented. "We struggled a little in the fifth after being up early but settled down and played our game."
 
Leading four in double digits, A. Miller put away 16 kills in 35 attempts, hitting .371. Heilemann and Kiekhofer notched 14 and 11 kills, respectively.
 
Wilks had a solid match all-around as she totaled 11 kills, 18 digs, and six assists.
 
The setter duo of Jenn Dore and Rylie Vaughn each recorded a double-double, combining for 48 assists and 25 digs.
 
As a team, Milwaukee totaled 85 digs, their second most this season.
 
Milwaukee will be back on the floor tomorrow as they face Youngstown State at 1:00 pm. Live coverage links for the Horizon League match can be found on MKEPanthers.com.