INDIANAPOLIS – The Milwaukee volleyball team finished off its weekend trip to Indiana on Saturday with a win against host IUPUI at the Jungle in four sets. The Jaguars took the opener by a 25-18 score, before the Panthers stormed back to win the next three sets, 25-17, 25-17, and 25-21.
 
With the win, MKE improves to 9-2 in league games, and coupled with the Wright State loss at Northern Kentucky on Saturday puts the Panthers in sole possession of first place in the Horizon League heading into the final weekend of October.

"Offensively we were spectacular as a team, we minimized our errors after starting off slow in the match, but we were able to finish strong," commented head coach Susie Johnson. "Ari [Miller] came on very strong today and she hit the ball at a high standard ending the match with a .571 [hitting percentage], Madi [Malone] and Natalie [Schmitz] responded today as well and were connecting at high levels."
 
"Our offense as a whole was doing well as both setters made some really great decisions with the ball," Johnson added. "We were also able to respond well in our passing game too and controlled the ball well, it really was a complete all-around effort for our team."
 
The Panthers ended the match with a .298 hitting percentage on offense including a match-best .375 hitting percentage with just one error in the third set. Ari Miller led the team with 16 kills, while Madi Malone notched 15 kills on a team-high 45 attempts.
 
Natalie Schmitz hit .417 with 11 kills, while Lakyn Graves and Bella Lipski each had three kills apiece. Bri Geurts rounded out the offensive kill total with two on the afternoon. Josie Johnson held the team lead in assists with 21 while Kaley Blake was right behind with 20 helpers on the effort. Blake added a pair of service aces while Sarah Schrader led Milwaukee's servers with a trio of aces.
 
Defensively, it was Graves recording a team-best seven blocks, while Lipski added five. Miller and Schmitz capped off their weekends on the defensive side with two blocks each. Malone was tied for the team lead with eight digs, as she was equal to Kati Goba, who played libero in the team's three winning sets, with eight as well.
 
Milwaukee held an early lead in the opening set with four of the first five points scored in the match, the Jaguars then tied the score at six before taking their first lead of the afternoon at 7-6 on an error by the Panthers. A 9-3 run by IUPUI pushed the score in favor of the home team at 16-9 before Miller put an end to the rally with a kill off a dish by Blake.
 
The Panthers scored three in a row to shrink the Jaguar lead to 20-15. Ultimately it was IUPUI to finish off the set on a kill, winning the set by a 25-18 margin.
 
MKE answered back in the second set with another quick lead at 5-0, which included a pair of kills by Malone. The Panthers led 7-2 on a Jaguar attacking error by IUPUI scored the next two to get back within three. Milwaukee went on a 7-3 run behind the service of both Schrader and Johnson to open a 17-10 advantage before its lead swelled to 22-15 on three consecutive Jaguar errors.
 
The Panthers were helped along by a Geurts kill and a pair of errors by IUPUI to take the second set by a 25-17 score to even the match at one set apiece.
 
The third set was closely contested with the score tied at two before Milwaukee secure the next two points on back-to-back assisted blocks by Graves and Lipski. The Panthers were able only able to hold onto a three-point advantage as neither side was able to put together successive rallies until midway through the set.
 
With Milwaukee ahead by a 13-11 score, the Panthers scored four of the next five on a kill by Schmitz, consecutive aces by Schrader an error by IUPUI and a kill by Miller to put Milwaukee up by a 18-12 score before the Jaguars called a timeout. Out of the break the Jaguars scored three of the next four points as Milwaukee then called a timeout with a 19-15 lead.
 
After the whistle it was Lipski and Miller to join forces on a block before Miller connected on a kill to put the Panthers ahead 21-15. MKE went on a 4-2 run to finish off the set at 25-17, capped off by an ace by Blake.
 
In the fourth, Milwaukee and IUPUI were tied at eight before back-to-back kills by Miller gave the Panthers a 10-8 advantage. The Jaguars kept it close and evened the score again at 12, ahead of a 4-1 run for Milwaukee to give the Panthers an 18-12 lead capped off by a Malone kill.
 
The teams went point-for-point as the Panthers held onto its lead which included a kill and ace by Malone on back-to-back plays to put MKE up 23-19. After a pair of points by the Jaguars, Miller put the capper on the afternoon with a kill off a Johnson pass before finishing off the afternoon with her only ace of the match.
 
Milwaukee will return home for its next two matches beginning on Friday October 27 against Youngstown State at 6 p.m. The Panthers will be hosting a teddy bear toss between the second and third sets, while the team will also be looking to break the single-match attendance record from 17 years ago in 2006. Fans can visit MKEPanthers.com/Tickets or call 414-229-5886 during business hours to get your tickets for Friday evening's contest.