MILWAUKEE, Wis. – Coming into Monday's match, the Milwaukee volleyball team has had its struggles offensively, but the Panthers clicked at the Klotsche Center, hitting .331 with 55 kills in a 3-0 sweep of Green Bay.
 
"We were able to make major improvements offensively which was our entire focus going into the match," head coach Susie Johnson stated. "I'm really proud of them for executing that."
 
Behind five kills from Ari Miller and four from Jenna Miller, the Panthers (2-3, 2-3 Horizon League) rolled out to an early lead in the first and rode that to a 24-18 advantage late.
 
Green Bay (2-3, 2-3 Horizon League) put up a fight, tallying seven straight points behind five aces, but a successful challenge from Johnson stopped the run and a Phoenix error paired with a Carmen Heilemann kill ended the frame 27-25.
 
"There was lots of adversity within that match," Johnson continued. "We lost Jess [Grabowski] in that first set but Mati [Jakscht] did an excellent job of stepping in."
 
Neither team had more than a three-point separation in the second set as the MKE and Green Bay traded blows back-and-forth, each hitting at least .300.
 
Down 23-22, A. Miller and Heilemann each slammed home a kill and a Phoenix error put MKE in front 2-0.
 
The Panthers jumped on top early in the third frame out to an 8-3 lead, but Green Bay fought back and earned its first lead at 13-12. The Phoenix maintained the advantage until an error tied it 19-19.
 
Milwaukee regained the lead after a Heilemann ace and tied 23-23, A. Miller and Abby Koenen put away consecutive kills to earn the sweep.
 
A. Miller led with 15 kills without an error while J. Miller totaled nine with a .571 attack percentage.
 
"We worked a lot on getting our middles to score and the connection there," Johnson commented. "They are both so different but so effective."
 
Defensively, Mati Jakscht took over at libero and totaled 12 digs. Rylie Vaughn notched her first double-double of the season with 30 assists and 12 digs.
 
Milwaukee and Green Bay will meet again tomorrow at 12:00 pm for game two of the series. Live coveage links can be found on MKEPanthers.com.