MILWAUKEE, Wis. – The Milwaukee volleyball team held a pair of late leads in the second and third set of Friday night's opener against Illinois but could not close out and dropped a 3-0 decision at the Klotsche Center.
 
"We had a hard time with serving and passing tonight," head coach Susie Johnson commented. "We missed some serves in critical moments. They are good at serving but we need to keep that ball up from the ground so we could make a play. Giving away points like that is hard but we are better than that. We'll come back tomorrow and be better."
 
Neither team was clicking offensively in the first as the two squads totaled 14 errors and just 16 kills early on. Following a pair of Illini attack errors, Kleja Cerniauskaite put away a slam to put MKE up 10-8, but Illinois quickly gained control with an 8-1 run to lead by seven.
 
Sarah Schrader served up three straight points to cut into the gap, but a pair of Illinois service aces and a kill put the visitors up 1-0 with a 25-18 set-one win.
 
Rylie Vaughn and Ari Miller combined for three early kills to get started in the second, but the Illinois defense stood tall, keeping Milwaukee from scoring. The Illini totaled 17 digs and four blocks while holding MKE to a .061 attack percentage.
 
Despite the offensive struggles, the Panthers scrapped together a solid start and pulled in front 17-11.
 
Illinois battled back, however, and built a 9-1 run behind five kills to pull in front 20-18. Miller landed another kill but that was all the MKE offense could muster, and the Panthers fell 25-21 in the second.
 
Miller came alive in the third set with a dominant line of 8-0-10 (.800) to keep the Panthers close, but Illinois once again took advantage of some unforced errors.
 
The teams traded points late to make it 22-22 but from there, a pair of MKE errors paired with an Illinois kill handed the Illini a 3-0 victory.
 
Miller finished with a team-high 13 kills on 23 swings, hitting .478. The junior also added two solo blocks and four assisted blocks.
 
"Ari kind of figured it out during that match," Johnson said. "She's very physical. She turned her block very well in the second and third set which helped us a ton. And then started attacking. They had a hard time stopping her."
 
Defensively, the Panthers owned a 43-42 dig advantage led by Jess Grabowski's 19. Rylie Vaughn added seven digs with go with a team-high 13 assists.
 
All three Milwaukee freshman made their debut with Madi Malone recorded three kills and six digs, Geurts having two kills, and Tatum Catalano with one kill and a pair of assisted blocks.
 
The Panthers will return to the Klotsche Center tomorrow night with a 7:30 pm matchup with UC Santa Barbara.
 
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