INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Ari Miller put away 30 kills and Rylie Vaughn totaled 51 assists, both career-highs, to help lead the Milwaukee volleyball team to a 3-2 comeback victory over Western Michigan on Friday afternoon.
 
"Ari, Carmen, and Madi were unstoppable," head coach Susie Johnson commented. "Our back row made it possible for them to get in tempo, but they were incredible."
 
Down 2-0, the Panthers hit .356 in the final three frames to take down the Broncos (6-4). Miller, Carmen Heilemann, and Madi Malone combined to hit .449 with 67 kills in the victory.
 
Milwaukee (6-5) was solid in the first two sets, but Western Michigan came out hot and took a 25-22 and a 25-21 victory for the comfortable 2-0 lead.
 
Then, the Panthers settled in.
 
"Something clicked in our team after the second set," Johnson continued. "We got them to trust each other and trust themselves. I'm proud of them for flipping the switch."
 
The attacking trio took over in the third, combining for 15 kills and just two errors. Miller and Malone finished it off with the final six kills, fueling a 7-2 rally in a 25-21 victory.
 
In the fourth, the Broncos pulled in front 15-14 on a Panthers error but a pair of blocks and two Malone kills put MKE back on top 19-16. From there, MKE finished off the frame 25-23 to force a fifth.
 
The Panther stuck with the same game plan they used in the fourth set with Vaughn running the offense. Tied 8-8, Vaughn found Miller for the next three Panther kills and MKE was in control at 14-11. WMU responded with a kill, but Malone put away the final nail to earn the victory.
 
Miller's 30 kills marked the second most kills in a five-set match in program history, behind only Jamie Gabrielsen's 31 from 2007.
 
Vaughn's 51 assists topped her previous career-high of 35 which was set in 2018.
 
Milwaukee totaled 89 digs on the defensive end, led by Jess Grabowski's 21. Sarah Schrader and Vaughn recorded 12 apiece.
 
In addition to Heilemann's 17 kills, the fifth-year senior added a career-high 12 digs for her first double-double.
 
The Panthers wrap up the Bulldog Brawl on Saturday with a 12:00 pm contest against No. 19 UCLA.
 
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