LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Offense was held in check on Friday night as the Milwaukee volleyball team fell 3-0 to USC at the Trojan Challenge.
 
The Panthers were held to 23 kills and a .036 attack percentage against the Trojans.
 
"Another really hard match with USC," head coach Susie Johnson said. "They played really well. We fought hard and it was hard to get going. We're excited about tomorrow."
 
Errors hurt the Panthers (1-8) in the first as Milwaukee hit -.083in a 25-14 setback. USC tallied four blocks in the set and MKE recorded nine first-set errors.
 
The Panthers battled in the second and had control late, but USC took advantage of service errors to put MKE in a 2-0 hole. Milwaukee had three chances at set point, but the Trojans continued to fight and following a Panthers' error, put away a kill for a 28-26 win.
 
USC (7-3) took an early 5-1 lead in the third behind three consecutive kills and the Panthers never could quite recover. MKE fought back to within two on multiple occasions, but each time, the Trojans responded with kills.
 
For each MKE slam, USC doubled up the kill and handed the Panthers a 25-17 loss.
 
Natalie Schmitz was the only Panther in double figure kills, leading the way with 10.
 
Josie Johnson finished with 10 assists and two digs while Kaley Blake added nine assists and five digs.
 
New Mexico State is on deck for the Panthers in game two of the USC Trojan Challenge. First serve is scheduled for Saturday at 2:00 pm CT.
 
Follow along this season with the Panthers on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram as well as the web at MKEPanthers.com.