MILWAUKEE – The Milwaukee volleyball team returned to its winning ways on Friday night, as the Panthers defeated visiting Northern Kentucky in four sets at the Klotsche Center.
 
After dropping the first set to the Norse by a 25-23 score, Milwaukee answered the call and won three-straight sets, 25-16, 25-20, and 26-24. With the win the Panthers improved to 5-1 in conference play and into a three-way tie for first place atop the Horizon League.
 
"We had to keep our composure following that first set with a lot of unforced errors," commented head coach Susie Johnson. "We responded well following our conversation after the first set and really got our offense and defense going. We ended the night with a very balanced offensive attack."
 
Four players recorded at least 10 kills apiece, led by Madi Malone with a match-high 17. Ari Miller was second on the night with 13, while Natalie Schmitz added 11 and Czhen Beneby notched 10 kills as she tied her season-best mark with 20 attacking attempts.
 
While Milwaukee had a stable offensive attack, the defense was just as successful as the Panthers finished the match with 11 blocks. Miller had seven blocks to lead the way while Beneby ended the night with five. Bri Geurts and Schmitz each had three, while Lakyn Graves had two on the match.
 
Kaley Blake with 23 and Josie Johnson with 22 had 45 of Milwaukee's 53 assists on the night, while the pair both recorded double-doubles as Blake led the Panthers with 16 digs, while Johnson added a dozen of her own. Sarah Schrader had 15 digs on the night, while Malone ended the contest with a double-double as well with 12 digs to go along with her 17 kills.
 
"We had a lot of digs with 78 tonight," Johnson said of her defense. "Our setters particularly responded very well to being hit at, which was Northern Kentucky's goal, and the two of them responded well and continued to run the offense despite those attempts."
 
The Panthers were one shy of tying their season best as MKE had eight aces on the night, including three by Johnson, and two each by Malone and Schmitz, while Blake tallied one. This is the sixth time in the last eight matches that Milwaukee has had at least seven aces in one match.
 
"I think our servers have been in the right mindset of late," Johnson concluded. "We have a game plan that we're executing and we're just gaining more confidence with our serves and we're understanding that we can really change an opponent's offense by how well we serve."
 
In a closely contested first set, the Panthers led the Norse by one at 18-17 before Milwaukee scored four unanswered to take a five-point advantage. Northern Kentucky responded with seven-straight points to take a two-point lead, before the Panthers scored on a Schmitz kill off a pass from Blake. However, an error by the Panthers gave the Norse the set-clinching point at 25-23.
 
After a messy first set for the black and gold, Milwaukee cleaned things up in the second set and opened an early 6-2 lead capped by back-to-back kills by Miller and Beneby. The Panthers built their lead to 14-6 on a kill by Malone and led by a 17-13 margin before scoring four unanswered including kills by Miller and Johnson. NKU was able to get back within six at 21-15 before the Panthers closed out the set on a 4-1 run to even the match at one set apiece.
 
Northern Kentucky led early in the third before the Panthers tied things back up at six on a service ace by Schmitz. Beneby put down a kill to give MKE a three-point lead at 12-9 but the Norse went on a four-point run to tie the set at 15. After back-to-back kills by Malone and another by Miller, the Panthers regained a five-point edge, but the pesky Norse continued to fight back and got back within three at 23-20. Ultimately a kill by Malone and an error by NKU gave the home team a 25-20 third set win to take a 2-1 lead.

With the score tied at seven with seven ties along the way through the first 14 points of the fourth set, Milwaukee took the first lead of more than a point at 9-7 on a kill by Miller. The Norse used a five-point run to even the score at 14 before the teams returned to exchanging one-point leads with ties along the way at points 15 through 21. NKU led by two at 23-21 and again at 24-22 before Milwaukee fought right back.
 
Malone took a pass from Blake to get the Panthers within one at 24-23, before a block by Geurts and Miller tied the score at 24. Malone connected on another kill to give Milwaukee a lead at 25-24 before Miller put an end to the match on a kill off a Blake feed to seal Milwaukee's fifth conference win in six tries.
 
Milwaukee gets right back to work on Saturday afternoon, when the Panthers welcome in Wright State to the Klotsche Center for a 4:00 p.m. start. Earlier in the evening, Wright State battled Green Bay to a five-set win at the Kress Center in Green Bay.