MILWAUKEE, Wis. -  The Milwaukee volleyball team rolled out to a 2-0 lead but ultimately fell 3-2 to UIC in the Horizon League Tournament semifinals on Saturday evening.
 
"I thought UIC came to battle tonight," head coach Susie Johnson said. "They never gave up. They made it very hard for us to respond. We started in such a great rhythm with our offense and could never quite get it back after the second set."
 
The Panthers dominated early on, hitting .615 in the first set on the way to a 25-15 victory. That continued in set two as MKE had just one error yet again, hitting .517 in a 25-11 win.
 
The Flames adjusted in the third pulled in front late 20-14. A pair of kills from Madi Malone and another from Kelja Cerniauskaite cut into the gap but UIC earned a 25-21 win to cut the deficit in half.
 
Errors continued for Milwaukee in the fourth as the Panthers hit just .184. The Flames took a four-point lead at 10-6 and never let Milwaukee back in, keeping distance for a 25-21 win.
 
After an early back-and-forth in the fifth, Malone put away a pair of kills and Cerniauskaite added another to put the Panthers in control at 10-6.
 
UIC's Paola Santiago responded with a kill bringing Jaclyn Oblena to serve. The sophomore followed with an ace and the Flames rallied from there, scoring eight straight to earn a 15-8 win in the fifth.
 
Ari Miller led the Panthers with 19 kills, hitting .366. Carmen Heilemann added 15 kills while Malone (14) and Cerniauskaite (12) also reached double figures.
 
Rylie Vaughn totaled 53 assists and 15 digs for the Panthers while Jess Grabowski recorded 14 digs.
 
The Panthers finished the season 22-9, claiming their 14th regular season title and first since 2013.
 
Milwaukee graduates six seniors in Heilemann, Lauren Spaulding, Cerniauskaite, Grabowski, Vaughn, and Abby Koenen.