MILWAUKEE – The Milwaukee volleyball team returned home to the Klotsche Center after a recent two-match stint on the road, and the Panthers did not disappoint, sweeping Cleveland State 25-13, 25-12, and 25-15 Thursday evening.
 
Fifth year Carmen Heilemann led the team with 15 kills, while Madi Malone and Ari Miller chipped in with nine kills each. Senior Kleja Cerniauskaite also tallied seven kills and two blocks for the Black & Gold.
 
"I was really proud of the team establishing our offense right from the beginning," said head coach Susie Johnson. "We were in system most of the match and Carmen and Rylie [Vaughn] had a great connection tonight of running the offense efficiently. Overall, I am really proud of how we came out firing on all cylinders tonight."
 
From start to finish, Milwaukee (19-8, 13-2 HL) was able to dominate the match, jumping out to big leads in all three sets. MKE hit .467 (49 kills – 7 errors – 90 attempts) as a team while holding the Vikings to .106 (24 – 15 – 85). Heilemann hit a match-high .542 (15 – 2 – 24), and recorded her 21^st match with double-digit kills this season.
 
Libero Jess Grabowski led the defense with a match-high 18 digs while Malone added 11.
 
Rylie Vaughn totaled 32 assists in addition to four digs and four service aces. Sophomore Kaley Blake also chipped in with 12 assists on the night.
 
The Panthers will host their final regular season home match Sunday, November 7 with the first serve at 2 p.m. against the Oakland Golden Grizzles. Sunday will also serve as Senior Day and MKE will celebrate seniors Lauren Spaulding, Kleja Cerniauskaite, Jess Grabowski, Rylie Vaughn, Abby Koenen and Carmen Heilemann.
 
Follow along this season with the Panthers on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram as well as the web at MKEPanthers.com.