MILWAUKEE – The Milwaukee volleyball team kicked off the month of October at home on Tuesday evening at the Klotsche Center and took the opening set from visiting Green Bay by a 25-21 score. However, the Phoenix were able to come back and record three-straight set wins to win the match by a 3-1 margin.
 
Green Bay won their sets by the scores of 25-16, 25-19, and 25-17 in a result that dropped Milwaukee's record to 4-1 in Horizon League play heading into this weekend's matches against Northern Kentucky on Friday and Wright State on Saturday.
 
The Panthers had a match-best 15 kills and hit at a .243 clip in the opening period but were unable to keep their offense rolling at the same level through the remainder of the match. Milwaukee ended the night hitting .186 while amassing 51 kills.
 
Both sides finished the night with 51 kills and 48 assists, while the Phoenix had a one-ace advantage at 8-7, and a one-block advantage at 9-8. Errors doomed Milwaukee with 25 attacking errors to Green Bay's 16, while the Panthers also had six service errors to three committed by the Phoenix.
 
"Statistically it was very close," said head coach Susie Johnson post-match. "I felt like Green Bay executed a really good game plan on us, and that kept us from getting into a rhythm offensively."
 
The Panthers had three reach double figures in kills with Ari Miller and Natalie Schmitz finishing the night with 11 each, while Madi Malone ended the evening with 10. Lakyn Graves also added eight kills on the contest.
 
Kaley Blake had a match-best 25 kills, while Josie Johnson added 15 of her own and Sarah Schrader notched six. Schrader also led Milwaukee in service aces with three on the night, with Schmitz adding a pair of aces.
 
Defensively, Blake also led Milwaukee with 10 digs, while Malone and Schrader each had nine and Johnson picked up eight digs. Graves had five blocks on the night, while Schmitz added four and both Miller and Rachel Scott ended the night with three blocks apiece.
 
With Green Bay leading at 5-4 in the opening set, Milwaukee responded with a lengthy run of nine unanswered points, including four kills by Graves. The Panthers were still ahead by seven at 18-11 but Green Bay responded with a six-point run on errors by the Panthers. Green Bay closed the gap to 22-21, but Milwaukee was able to escape with the first set win on a kill by Miller, a block by Miller and Schmitz and an attacking error by the Phoenix.
 
In the second set it was a lengthy run by Green Bay in the early stages that set the tone in the set, with the Phoenix opening a 13-3 advantage. Milwaukee trailed by a dozen at 23-11, but scored five of the next six points and were able to fend off set point on three occasions before Green Bay evened the score with a 25-16 win.
 
Milwaukee led early in the third at 6-3 on a Johnson feed to Miller, but Green Bay was able to knot the score at nine before surging ahead to a 22-16 lead. Malone put a stop to the Phoenix rally momentarily, but it was Green Bay to score three of the final five points despite a pair of back-to-back kills by Schmitz as the visitors took a 2-1 lead with a 25-19 third set win.
 
The fourth set was like the third with the Panthers taking an early 5-2 lead on back-to-back kills by Malone and Graves ahead of a Green Bay four-point rally to take a 12-9 lead. The Panthers were only able to keep the disadvantage at three and trailed 18-15 before the Phoenix finished off the match with a 25-17 score in the fourth set.
 
Milwaukee will be back home this weekend beginning with Northern Kentucky on Friday evening with a 6:00 p.m. from the Klotsche Center. Live stats and ESPN+ coverage of the game will be available at the links on MKEPanthers.com.