DAYTON, Ohio – Milwaukee volleyball's season came to a close in the opening round of the Horizon League Championship on Friday afternoon, as the Panthers fell to the Cleveland State Vikings in four sets.
 
The match was highlighted by Ari Miller becoming the program's all-time leader in kills, as she ended her career with 1,563, as she passes Ericka Malterer's previous mark of 1,560 that had stood since the 1999 season.
 
The Panthers won the opening set by a 25-21 margin, but the Vikings responded with three wins by the scores of 25-18, 25-19, and 25-19.
 
Milwaukee hit .301 on the match while committing fewer errors than Cleveland State with just 12, but it was not enough as the Vikings connected on a .343 hitting percentage for the match. The Vikings had 61 kills to the 53 by the Panthers, while CSU had 15 more digs with a 65-50 advantage. Cleveland State also had 12 aces to just two by the Panthers.
 
Madi Malone put together her third straight and 15th double-double performance on the season with a team-best 17 kills and 14 digs, ending the match with a .342 hitting percentage. Miller was second on the team with 10 kills and led the Panthers with four blocks on the effort, while hitting .409 on offense with just one error on 22 attacks.
 
Bri Geurts had nine kills and three blocks, while Natalie Schmitz was tied with Geurts in the kills category. Lakyn Graves had six kills and hit .417 on the match. Josie Johnson had 22 assists to lead the Panthers with five digs, while Kaley Blake added 18 assists and had seven digs on the defensive end.
 
Kati Goba had nine digs with Sarah Schrader had five digs in her final collegiate match. Rachel Scott with two kills and a block rounded out the box score on offense for the Panthers.
 
Milwaukee trailed 5-3 to open the first set but got its offense going before Scott sparked the offense with a kill that led to a five-point run that included a kill by Graves and a service ace by Blake. The Panther lead was extended to 13-7 on a block by Geurts and Miller.
 
The Panthers held on to a four-point lead at 19-15 after another kill by Graves before the Vikings closed the gap to three with a kill. The two sides exchanged the next several points as Milwaukee was ahead 22-18 with a kill by Malone, Cleveland State scored three of the next four to close the deficit to a pair at 23-21.
 
Schmitz picked up a kill on a pass from Johnson to set the Panthers for set point, which was punctuated on a kill by Geurts off a feed from Blake as Milwaukee won, 25-21.
 
MKE took the first three points of the second set before CSU took its first lead of the set at 4-3, the Panthers fought back with kills by Scott and Malone before each side rallied with two-point bursts with Milwaukee ahead by 9-8.
 
The Panthers were within one again at 14-13 after a kill by Malone before Cleveland State moved ahead by four at 18-13. The Vikings closed out the set win at 25-18 to even the score at one.
 
MKE took the opening point of the third set and led at 7-6 following kills by Miller and Schmitz, but Cleveland State scored four of the next five points and did not turn back as the Vikings took the set by a 25-19 margin to take its first lead of the match at 2-1.
 
In the fourth set, the Panthers took an early 3-1 lead on consecutive kills by Malone followed by a block by Malone and Miller. The score was even at six before the Vikings scored the next three, and eventually built up a 17-12 lead.
 
Miller got a kill off a Johnson pass, followed by an error from CSU as the Panthers fought back to within three at 17-14. Late in the set, Milwaukee trailed 22-17 the Panthers won service back on a service error. Ultimately the Vikings scored three of the final four points to win the set, 25-19, and the match.
 
Milwaukee finishes the season at 21-12 and will look ahead to the spring campaign, and build in advance of the fall 2024 season.