MILWAUKEE – Milwaukee volleyball improved to 6-1 in Horizon League play on Saturday afternoon, as the Panthers stung preseason favorite Wright State in a four-set battle at the Klotsche Center.
 
The Panthers took the opener with a 25-21 victory before the Raiders answered back with a 25-15 second-set win. Milwaukee was able to take the next two sets with a 25-16 third set win and ended the match with a win in the fourth set by a 25-22 margin.
 
"That match was very important test for us this season," commented head coach Susie Johnson. "There were times when things got difficult, but we were able to hold our composure in a tough match and I'm really proud of our team effort to come out with the win."
 
"Madi [Malone] had some big swings when we needed it and she was able to come through in critical moments on offense," Johnson added. "Defensively, our blocking came on strong late in the match and that really helped our momentum, especially in the third set, where we had seven blocks."
 
Milwaukee had its second-highest hitting percentage in league play as the Panthers hit .272 on the afternoon. MKE had 54 kills against just 13 errors on 151 swings, while the Raiders had 55 kills but committed 25 errors on 161 swings for a .186 hitting percentage.
 
Leading the way on offense was Madi Malone with 21 kills, two shy of her season-best, as Malone stayed hot with her fourth match of the last five hitting better than .300. Ari Miller had a dozen kills and Natalie Schmitz had 10, with Czhen Beneby collecting five and Lakyn Graves tallying four kills on the match.
 
Blocking was also vital for the Panthers in the effort as MKE recorded 11 on the afternoon to WSU's five. Virtually all other statistical categories were even including aces at six apiece, assists at 52 aside, and the Raiders holding a slim 72-71 advantage in digs.
 
Graves led the Panthers with seven blocks on the match with Bri Geurts and Miller adding four each. Beneby, Malone, and Schmitz each had two for the Panthers on the front line. Kara Erdmann led MKE with 18 digs, which included her stint in the final two sets as libero, Kaley Blake was second with 16, while Sarah Schrader had 15 digs. Malone recorded her eighth double-double of the year with 11 digs.
 
Blake had 20 assists for her seventh double-double of the season, while Josie Johnson had the team lead with 21 assists. Blake and Schrader each had one ace aside, while Malone and Miller led the Panthers with two aces each.
 
In the closely contested first set, Milwaukee gained its first lead of the set at 4-3 following an error by the Raiders. After Wright State tied the score at 13 and again at 16, Milwaukee scored the next three on kills by Malone, Geurts and Miller to take a three-point lead. Wright State got back within one at 21-20 but a kill and an ace by Miller gave the black and gold a three-point cushion once again.
 
Wright State did not make it easy with a kill to get back within two, but a kill by Beneby set the home team up for set point, which Schmitz was able to put down off a pass by Schrader as Milwaukee took the opener, 25-21.
 
The Raiders jumped out to an early lead as they raced out to a 13-4 lead. Milwaukee showed fight in the waning stages of the set with four of the final six points, including a pair of kills by Malone and an ace by Schrader, but it was not enough as Wright State evened the score at one with a 25-15 set win.
 
Milwaukee trailed by an 11-9 score in the third set but scored the next five on a pair of aces by Malone as well as a kill, while the Panthers also got back-to-back blocks by Miller and Schmitz followed by Beneby and Miller as the Panthers regained the lead at 14-11.
 
The Panthers did not relinquish the lead the rest of the period as MKE turned a 17-15 lead into a 24-15 advantage following a seven-point run capped off by a kill from Blake, who dumped the ball over the net to give the Panthers set point. After a point by the Raiders, Milwaukee put the finishing touches on the set with a kill by Malone as Milwaukee took the third by a 25-16 score.
 
In the third set, Milwaukee had seven of their 11 team blocks.
 
Things did not go in favor of Milwaukee in the fourth set as Wright State led early at 8-3 before a Raider error and a Malone kill got MKE back within three. After another Raider point made it 9-5, the Panthers scored the next four, which included kills by Malone and Miller.
 
Wright State would have brief bursts of scoring, but Milwaukee always had an answer to tie the set at 11, 14, 15, and 18 before taking a 19-18 lead on an ace by Blake. The Raiders led 21-19 with three unanswered points before Schmitz got a kill, followed by a block by Graves and Malone, and back-to-back kills by Malone to give the Panthers their largest lead of the set at 23-21.
 
After Wright State got back within one at 23-22, Malone set up the Panthers with match point with a kill before a Raider attacking error sealed the victory for the Panthers in a 25-22 set victory.
 
Milwaukee will be on the road the next two weekends beginning with a trip to Oakland on Friday evening at 5:00 p.m. (CT) in Rochester, Michigan. The trip will conclude with a visit to Cleveland State the following afternoon.