NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Milwaukee volleyball team shook off a deficit and took advantage of Arkansas State miscues to earn a 3-2 in the season opener on Friday morning. The victory marked the program's 500th since joining NCAA Division I.
 
"It was a complete overall win from the whole team," head coach Susie Johnson commented. "We started off really strong and then had to come through and get refocused and earn the win."
 
The strong start was from Kleja Cerniauskaite and the offense as the Panthers ran out to a 20-7 advantage in the first set. Kylie Wilks put away three of her six attempts and Shari Volpis and Ari Miller each added a pair in the run. The Red Wolves pushed back with six straight points late but Cerniauskaite's sixth kill of the frame carried Milwaukee to a 25-15 win.
 
In the next two sets, Arkansas State limited their mistakes and hit over .300 in each to jump ahead 2-1 in the match. Milwaukee had trouble carrying their offense into the second and third as they combined for 18 errors and a .056 hitting percentage.
 
Despite the deficit, Milwaukee was not discouraged as they regrouped for a 25-14 victory in the fourth set. The Panthers' defense stymied the Red Wolves as A-State recorded nine errors offensively. Jess Grabowski tallied six digs in the back row to lead a group that recorded 19 in the fourth frame alone.
 
Carmen Heilemann gave Milwaukee a spark in the fifth, recorded her ninth and tenth kills of the match to tie the set 4-4 early on. Later, a pair of Arkansas State errors had the Panthers up 10-9 before a kill from Macey Putt tied the deciding frame at 10.
 
It was all Milwaukee from there as Shari Volpis put away a slam for the lead. Three consecutive Red Wolves' errors put the Panthers firmly in the driver's seat and after an A-State timeout, Jenn Dore served up Wilks for a finishing blow. 
 
"It was a great effort," Johnson continued. "Passing and defense was incredible and Kleja had a nice offensive match which allowed space for the others to succeed too. For the first match of the year, the overall team effort was there and we are happy with a great start. We are going to keep chipping away to get better and better."
 
Cerniauskaite finished the match with a team-high 12 kills, one off her career-best. Sophomore Rylie Vaughn recorded her 13th career double-double with 18 assists and 17 digs while Dore led the Panthers with 21 assists.
 
Wilks and Heilemann joined Cerniauskaite in double digits with 10 kills apiece while Volpis recorded eight.
 
Defensively, Grabowski totaled 19 digs while Mati Jakscht tallied 13 in her collegiate debut.
 
The Panthers will retake the court tonight for a 6:00 pm contest against host school Belmont. The match will stream live on ESPN+ while live stats will also be available.