MILWAUKEE, Wis. – Freshman Madi Malone recorded her first collegiate double-double with a game-high 24 kills to help the Milwaukee volleyball team take down Cincinnati 3-1 on Friday night.
 
"She was incredible," head coach Susie Johnson commented. "It was awesome to see her show tonight and she was our absolute go-to."
 
Malone put away a career-high 24 kills with a .404 hitting percentage. The freshman found the floor eight times in the third set and five more in the fourth to help MKE (1-3) rally from a 1-0 deficit.
 
"It was a hard match. We got pushed, but we pushed back," Johnson said. "We got in sync, and it made a big difference in winning the match tonight."
 
After dropping the first frame 25-19, the Panthers opened the second frame with a 10-1 run on their way to a 25-21 victory to even the match against the Bearcats (1-3).
 
In the third, MKE found Malone early and often as she finished with eight kills in 16 swings. The Panthers' passing was on point with 28 serve receptions without an error, leading to a .311 attack percentage.
 
Milwaukee was rolling as a team in the fourth, hitting .390 with just two errors. Three straight kills from Ari Miller and Malone had the Panthers in the driver's seat at 16-10 and MKE closed it out from there, taking a 25-18 victory to seal its first win of the year.
 
After three errors in three swings in the first set, Miller settled in and finished with 13 kills and a .375 attack percentage.
 
Carmen Heilemann and Abby Koenen also reached double figures with 13 and 10 kills, respectively.
 
Grabowski led an incredible defensive effort from the Panthers, totaling 25 digs. Malone (10) and Sarah Schrader (15) also reached double figure digs while Rylie Vaughn recorded a double-double of 27 assists and 16 digs.
 
Fellow setter Kaley Blake added a team-high 29 assists to go with nine digs.
 
Milwaukee next takes on Bowling Green on Saturday at 2:30 pm CT.
 
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