HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – For the 16th time in Division I history, and third time in its last five years, the Milwaukee volleyball team has reached 20 wins in a season as the Panthers defeated the Northern Kentucky Norse by a 3-1 score at Regents Hall.
 
The Panthers took the opening set by a 25-19 score before NKU evened the match at one set apiece with a 25-15 win. Milwaukee came back to win the next two sets by the scores of 25-18 and 26-24 to win the match and sweep the season series from the Norse. It was Milwaukee's first win in Highland Heights since the 2015 season, which was the Panthers' first-ever trip to Northern Kentucky.
 
With the win, the Panthers take over sole possession of second place in the Horizon League standings heading into the final week of regular season play. Milwaukee trails Wright State by a full game and leads Green Bay by a full game.
 
MKE hit .371 on the match for its fourth-best hitting performance of the year, and third best in Horizon League matches as the Panthers accumulated 56 kills on 49 assists against the Norse. Milwaukee only had 10 errors on attacking attempts, which is the lowest total for the Panthers in a four-set match this season and tied for the third-best total this season.
 
The Panthers only had three errors in the third and fourth sets combined, as they hit a staggering .443 over the final two sets to win the match. Milwaukee also collected eight points on blocks, with another three points coming on aces.
 
"I was so proud of our team for battling today," commented head coach Susie Johnson after the match. "We really responded positively from yesterday's result. Offensively we had a great first set but had a hard time getting going in the second before responding in a big way in the final two."
 
"Defensively, we settled down after a shaky start and improved our passing game, while the blocking was stable for us throughout the match making it easier to play all around," Johnson concluded.
 
Five Panthers had at least eight kills on offense led by Natalie Schmitz, who ended the match with 15 kills against no errors for a .455 hitting percent. Ari Miller potted 13 kills and hit .407, with Lakyn Graves connecting on 10 kills and a .529 hitting percent.
 
Bri Geurts and Madi Malone each had eight kills on the afternoon, with Geurts picking up a team-best .636 hitting percent. In terms of assists, Kaley Blake led Milwaukee's setters with a match-best 25, while teammate Josie Johnson registered 19 assists in the effort. Miller had a pair of aces, while Blake picked up one as the Panthers were only able to muster three aces in the service game.
 
Graves and Miller finished the match with four blocks apiece, with two solo blocks for Miller and one for Graves. Five other Panthers were credited with one block each.
 
Kara Erdmann got the start at the libero position and led the Panthers with 10 digs on the afternoon, while Kati Goba played the latter two sets in the alternate jersey and picked up five digs. Malone picked up eight digs, while Johnson, Blake, and Sarah Schrader corralled six digs apiece.
 
After tying the first set at three points aside in the opening set, Milwaukee continued to add on with three more points including a pair of kills by Graves. Another four-point run by the Panthers put MKE ahead at 10-5 before ultimately opening a 22-14 lead late in the set on a run of five consecutive kills, with three from Schmitz, and capped off by an ace from Miller.
 
Northern Kentucky scored four of the next five points and added another later but kills by Geurts and Malone finished off the set at 25-19 in favor of the Panthers.
 
The Norse put together an eight-point run in the second set to turn a 4-4 tie into a 12-4 lead as NKU went on to a second set win by the score of 25-15.
 
After splitting the opening 20 points of the third set, Milwaukee scored the next five on a kills by Schmitz and Graves, an ace by Blake, an error by the Norse and a block by Geurts and Graves. The Panthers extended their lead to 17-11 and later added on to its five-points lead with two-straight points to take a 22-15 lead.
 
In the closing stages of the set, the Norse scored the next three points before Milwaukee finished off the stanza with three-straight kills on swings by Miller, Schmitz, and Graves to take the third set by a 25-18 score.
 
The Panthers trailed early in the fourth set at 10-6 but the resilient bunch scored five of the next six rallies that was started and finished on kills by Malone as the Panthers tied the score at 11. A five-point run by MKE, which included kills by Miller, and Bella Lipski and a block by Graves and Schmitz put the Panthers up by a 17-13 score.
 
Just as Milwaukee tried to pull away late, the Norse answered back and closed the gap to 22-20, before tying the set at 24. Schmitz capped off the match with back-to-back kills as the Panthers took the fourth set by a 26-24 score and secure the four-set victory.
 
Milwaukee wraps up its road schedule with an 8-5 record and will look to finish off the regular season next weekend beginning with Cleveland State at 6:00 p.m. on Friday evening at the Klotsche Center.