DAYTON, Ohio – In a battle for first place the Milwaukee volleyball team was not able to overcome an early two-set deficit and dropped a four-set match to host Wright State by a 3-1 margin.
 
The Panthers won the third set at 25-22 after dropping the opening two sets by 25-22 and 25-17 scores. The Raiders ultimately won the fourth set by a 25-19 difference.
 
With the loss, Milwaukee falls to 19-10 overall and 11-4 in Horizon League play, a full game back of Wright State. The Panthers are now even with Green Bay in second place, while Northern Kentucky is currently in fourth place just one match back of Milwaukee and Green Bay with a 10-5 record in league matches.

"I thought that we battled very well through a lot of tonight's match," commented head coach Susie Johnson. "We had a good offensive game plan, and we executed at times, but Wright State is a good team and their defense was able to keep us from consistently scoring. It was tough tonight, so we'll have to turn it around and improve for tomorrow's match."
 
The Panthers played well on offense in the first and third sets, hitting .260 in the odd numbered sets. However, Milwaukee's offense connected on a .128 hitting percentage in the second and fourth sets, with a match low .093 in the fourth. Wright State ended the match with 63 kills and 58 assists to the 50 kills and 49 assists for Milwaukee.
 
Defensively, the Panthers and Raiders were even up front with 11 team blocks apiece, while the Raiders recorded eight more digs at a 66-58 difference.
 
Recording double-doubles on the night were Madi Malone and Kaley Blake as Malone led the Panthers with 14 kills with her 11 digs, while Blake had 18 assists with her 11 digs. Natalie Schmitz had a dozen kills, while Ari Miller had 11 and Lakyn Graves had eight on offense.
 
Josie Johnson led the Panthers with 23 assists and added eight digs with an ace, while Sarah Schrader also had eight digs and picked up a team-best two aces. Kara Erdmann led the Panthers with 15 digs as she played all four sets in the libero position.
 
Miller had a team-high six blocks, including one solo block, while Graves also had four blocks with two of the solo variety. Schmitz notched four blocks as well, with Malone adding three on the night.
 
Johnson got the Panthers started with a kill to even the early score at one before the Raiders won back service and took a 6-2 lead. Graves connected on a kill, which was quickly answered by Wright State as the Raiders led 10-5.
 
Milwaukee clawed back to within one on back-to-back kills by Malone, and blocks by Miller and Schmitz and a solo block by Miller to make it 10-9 Wright State. The Panthers were able to draw even with their hosts before Wright State scored the next three to take a 16-13 advantage. MKE continued to fight but were just short of overcoming the deficit as the Raiders won the opening set, 25-22.
 
The two sides were even at five points through the first 10 of the second set, as a block by Graves and Malone tied the period. Another block by Malone, Schmitz and Miller knotted the score again at eight before an attack error by Wright State put the Panthers in front by a 9-8 margin.
 
Milwaukee held an 11-10 advantage before the Raiders scored the next five points consecutively around a Panther timeout to regain a 15-11 lead that it did not relinquish the rest of the set. Kills by Schmitz and Graves got the Panthers back within two, but the Raiders closed out the stanza with four of the final five points at 25-17.
 
Wright State took the early third set lead at 4-3 before Johnson found Schmitz for a kill to tie the score at four. Schmitz and Graves took passes from Blake as Milwaukee looked to build a lead and later used a three-point run to take an 11-8 lead with a kill by Malone, ace by Johnson and block by Malone and Miller.
 
After the third set media timeout, the Panthers scored three of the next four points including aces by Blake and Schrader to take an 18-13 lead. A 6-1 run by the Raiders got Wright State even on the scoreboard at 20 before Miller put down back-to-back kills to put MKE ahead by a pair and force a Wright State timeout.
 
A block by Schmitz made it 23-20 on the next rally before Wright State used yet another timeout. After a point by the Raiders, Schmitz picked up a kill to give the Panthers set point which was fought off on a kill by the Raiders once before it was Schmitz to give Milwaukee its first set win of the night at 25-22.
 
The Raiders jumped ahead early in the fourth set at 8-3, before the Panthers rattled off five of the next six points, which included a block by Graves and an ace by Schrader to get Milwaukee back within one at 9-8. Wright State built up its lead to 17-12 before the Panthers scored the next three on a pair of WSU errors and a kill by Geurts.
 
After a kill by the Raiders, Geurts and Graves connected on consecutive kills to get the Panthers within one at 18-17 before the Wright State scored the next two points. Malone notched her 14th kill of the night on a pass by Blake, before two more by the Raiders followed by a block from Geurts and Miller. Ultimately it was Wright State to score the final three to take the set, 25-19.
 
Milwaukee gets back to work on Saturday afternoon, when the team visits Northern Kentucky for its final road match of the regular season as the Panthers will meet the Norse at 2:00 p.m. (CT) at Regents Hall in Highland Heights, Ky.