MILWAUKEE, Wis. – Czhen Beneby recorded a career-high 15 kills to help the Milwaukee volleyball team to a 3-0 sweep of Purdue Fort Wayne on Tuesday night.
"I thought the team really put it together today," head coach
Susie Johnson said. "We had to fight back for parts of each set. It was a team effort, a fight, commitment to the game plan. The team was really focused today and Czhen really came through. The passing was really strong and so was our defense as well."
Beneby hit a match-high .619 and finished with seven kills in the third frame alone to power the Panthers.
In the first, Beneby and
Madi Malone did most of the damage, putting away four kills apiece. MKE led by one before a 6-0 rally anchored by three straight kills from Beneby,
Bri Geurts, and Malone pushed the Panthers up 1-0.
Purdue Fort Wayne (8-17, 4-10 Horizon League) found some room in the second set, building a six-point advantage at 17-11, but the Panthers responded in a big way. Three straight points forced a Mastodons timeout and after a PFW point, MKE regained the lead at 19-18.
From there, the Panthers doubled up the visitors 6-3, finishing with three straight kills from Malone and Beneby to end it 25-21.
It was all Milwaukee (9-17, 8-7 Horizon League) in the third as the Panthers held Purdue Fort Wayne to just six kills and a -.061 attack percentage. Back-to-back kills from Beneby had the Panthers in control 18-12 and MKE never looked back in a 25-14 victory.
Malone and
Natalie Schmitz also reached double figures, putting away 10 kills each. Additionally, Malone added 10 digs.
Kara Erdmann led the back line with 14 digs while
Sarah Schrader added 10.
Kaley Blake totaled 25 assists and seven digs while
Josie Johnson added 12 assists and seven digs.
The Panthers next hit the road for two matches beginning on Friday, November 4 at Oakland before heading home to wrap up the regular season against Green Bay on November 11.
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