HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – The Milwaukee volleyball team ran into a tough Northern Kentucky team on Thursday night and dropped its first Horizon League contest of the season, falling 3-0 to the Norse at Regents Hall.
 
"Northern Kentucky played incredible tonight," head coach Susie Johnson commented. "It was a tough battle today. They were very good in every aspect of the match."
 
Milwaukee (18-7, 12-1 Horizon League) was held to a .183 attack percentage, its lowest in 13 Horizon League matches. Meanwhile, the Norse (13-7, 9-2 Horizon League) hit .347 with 46 total kills.
 
Northern Kentucky took advantage of eight Milwaukee errors in the first and used a late 6-2 run to hand the Panthers a 25-16 setback.
 
In the second, the Panthers responded with 19 kills, but Northern Kentucky was there every step of the way, hitting .359 with 17 kills. Milwaukee pushed late to tie it 24-24, but NKU grabbed a 2-0 lead following a kill and a block.
 
NKU used another late run in the third set to take control in the sweep. Milwaukee was leading 16-14 but the Norse rattled off five straight points and held on for a 25-21 win to give the Panthers their first loss in 13 matches.
 
Milwaukee had three players in double figure digs with Ari Miller (12) and Madi Malone (12) leading the way. Malone added eight digs.
 
Rylie Vaughn dished out 36 assists to go with six digs while Jess Grabowski led MKE with 13 digs.
 
Milwaukee will wrap up its road trip with a 5:00 pm CT matchup at Wright State tomorrow evening before returning home for two matches.
 
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