MILWAUKEE, Wis. – The Milwaukee volleyball team knew a win tonight would have big postseason implications, but they didn't let the pressure get to them as the Panthers rallied to beat Green Bay 3-2 at the Klotsche Center. With the win, Milwaukee earned the No. 2 seed and a first-round bye in the Horizon League Tournament.  

"This team has been fighting all season and we've been in a lot of tight situations all season," head coach Susie Johnson commented. "This was a really good Green Bay team. We didn't stop believing and we needed to do our jobs a little bit better and we came through and did that." 
 
Green Bay (20-8, 12-4 Horizon League) came out strong in the fifth set, grabbing the early lead 5-1 and forcing a Milwaukee timeout. The Panthers (25-5, 12-4 Horizon League) slowly chipped away and found an equalizer 9-9 thanks to a block from Kleja Cerniauskaite and Ari Miller.
 
After six straight sideouts, Cerniauskaite and Shari Volpis put away kills to bookend a Green Bay error and Milwaukee was in front 14-12. The Phoenix responded with a kill but Volpis slammed home her 18th kill of the match for the win.
 
Milwaukee rallied thanks to just one error in the deciding set, while hitting .500. For the match, the Panthers hit .243 compared to .231 for Green Bay.
 
The match was back and forth the whole night with the teams trading 25-22 victories in the first and second sets.
 
In the third, Jenna Miller and Rylie Vaughn both served lengthy runs as Milwaukee doubled up Green Bay 17-8. The Phoenix fought back to cut their deficit to six, but a Carmen Heilemann slam and an attack error from Green Bay had Milwaukee in front 2-1 with a 25-18 victory.
 
In the fourth set, Milwaukee and Green Bay played to six tie scores and three lead changes, putting together run after run. After a service ace from Jess Grabowski tied the set 14-14, the Phoenix scored five of the next six points to pull ahead 19-15.
 
The Panthers cut the opposition's lead to two after a Green Bay error and kill from A. Miller and later pulled within on at 23-22 after a Volpis kill. Green Bay found the 24th point on a Panthers' service error and then forced a deciding fifth after turning away Cerniauskaite's attempt.
 
Volpis stood out for Milwaukee, matching a career-high with 18 kills while hitting .395. The senior totaled 38 swings in the five-set match.

Johnson continued, "It's so awesome for her. She is such a competitor and fights every day in practice to get better and better. It is really important for our team to have senior leadership like that."
 
Cerniauskaite and Heilemann joined in double digits with 16 and 10, respectively. Cerniauskaite put away her swings at a .353 clip and added three digs on the night.
 
Defensively, Grabowski was all over the floor, recording 32 digs, marking the third time this year she had at least 30 in a match.
 
The setter combo of Jenn Dore and Vaughn each recorded a double-double in the win. Dore totaled 20 assists and 13 digs while Vaughn dished out 30 assists to go with 14 digs.
 
With the win, Milwaukee earned a first-round bye for the Horizon League Tournament and will next play the winner of Northern Kentucky and UIC. The semifinal match will take place on Saturday, November 23 from Dayton, Ohio at 5:00 pm CT. Live coverage links can be found on MKEPanthers.com. More details on the Horizon League Tournament can be found HERE.