MOON TOWNSHIP, Penn. – For the third-straight match, the Milwaukee volleyball team swept it's opponent with Robert Morris being its latest victim Thursday night from the UPMC Events Center.
The Panthers (21-8, 15-2) hit a solid .406 (50 kills – 9 errors – 101 total attacks), while holding Robert Morris (9-19, 2-14) to just .188 (30 – 11 – 101). Reigning Horizon League Player of the Week,
Carmen Heilemann continued with the hot hand and ended the night with a match-high 21 kills (.655 career high) on 29 attempts and just two hitting errors.
"I thought Rylie [Vaughn] ran a great offense tonight with a team hitting percentage over .400," said head coach
Susie Johnson. The team as a whole was great this evening, and Carmen and Ari [Miller] were spectacular. Getting out of there in three was really pretty awesome and I am proud of the team of how they performed."
The Colonials earned the first point of the first set, but the Panthers controlled the set thereafter. MKE pulled away at 18-12 and rattled off five-straight points for a double-digit, 22-12 lead. Both Heilemann and
Ari Miller tallied two kills each during the streak. Miller closed out the first set for the Panthers with a kill resulting in a 25-15 first set win.
In the second set, Robert Morris didn't go down quietly. Milwaukee led by as many as four points at the 19-14 mark in favor of the Black & Gold before RMU stormed back and went on a 6-0 run to take a 20-19 lead. All square at 20, MKE went on 3-0 run and solidified a 25-22 second set victory with a kill from Heilemann.
Milwaukee took no prisoners in the third set by going on an 8-0 run to start the third set, highlighted by three aces by
Madi Malone and two kills from
Kleja Cerniauskaite. The Panthers hit .464 (15 – 2 – 28) in the third and held the Colonials to just .065 (6 – 4 – 31). MKE held Robert Morris to just eight points, winning by a 17-point margin – their largest of the 2021 season.
Rylie Vaughn tallied another double-double with 44 assists and 12 digs, while Miller collected 12 kills on 20 attempts.
Next up, the Panthers will complete the regular season at Youngstown State on Saturday, November 13 at 5 p.m. (CT). With a win, the Panthers will clinch the 2021 Horizon League title.
