DAYTON, Ohio – The Milwaukee volleyball team earned its 12th trip to the Horizon League Tournament Championship but could not carry momentum from last night's victory as it fell 3-0 to Northern Kentucky. The Panthers couldn't get anything going offensively as they fell to the surging Norse in straight sets.
 
"Credit to Northern Kentucky, they played really well," head coach Susie Johnson commented. "We could not get anything going and did not adjust like we needed to."
 
After Kleja Cerniauskaite put away a kill in the first set to tie it 4-4, Northern Kentucky earned three straight points and never looked back. The Panthers battled to cut their deficit and get as close as one, but the Norse always had an answer.
 
Offensively, Milwaukee had a hard time finding rhythm in the first as it was held to just seven kills while committing seven errors. Meanwhile, the Norse recorded 16 kills and finished the frame on a 5-2 run to jump ahead 1-0.
 
In the second, Jenna Miller got going as she landed a pair of kills and denied an NKU attack to put Milwaukee up 6-4, but after trading points, the Norse used a 7-0 run to pull ahead 12-7.
 
Shari Volpis and Cerniauskaite tried to give Milwaukee some life, each with a kill during a 5-1 run but NKU once again had an answer, recording four straight points for a 20-16 lead. The two teams traded points on six straight serves before the Norse tallied two kills and a block to go up 2-0 with a 25-20 win.
 
The Norse carried all the momentum into the third set to pull ahead 4-1 and never led the Panthers back in. Milwaukee was held under .100 attack percentage for the third straight set, recording 10 kills with nine errors. NKU managed 12 kills with just one error to claim the frame 25-13 and earn the sweep.
 
As a team, Milwaukee was held to a season-low 29 kills, hitting .035 thanks to 25 errors and 12 Northern Kentucky blocks.
 
J. Miller tallied five kills and hit .500 while adding two total blocks.
 
Carmen Heilemann led Milwaukee with eight kills while Cerniauskaite (5), Ari Miller (4), and Volpis (4) chipped in.
 
Jess Grabowski recorded 12 digs to lead the back line. Rylie Vaughn and Jenn Dore combined for 26 assists and 12 digs.
 
Thanks to their performances over the last two days, Dore and Vaughn were selected to the Horizon League All-Tournament Team.
 
With the 26 wins this season, Milwaukee matched the most victories since joining NCAA Division I in 1990.