MILWAUKEE – The Milwaukee volleyball team fought back to take the third set, but it was not enough as the Panthers fell to visiting Marquette in four sets on Thursday evening by a 3-1 score inside the Klotsche Center.
 
The Golden Eagles took the opener by a 25-14 score before moving ahead by two sets with a 25-18 second set win. The Panthers registered a 25-17 third set win, but it was ultimately Marquette to take the match with a 25-17 score in the fourth set.
 
"I thought we competed well in that match, but it was just hard to sustain that level throughout," commented head coach Susie Johnson. "Our offense was going well at times, and defensively we had a really good game plan, and it worked really well for a lot of the match."
 
"Marquette showed why they've been in the top 25 consistently," Johnson added. "They compete at a high level on every point."
 
Milwaukee's offense was in step with that of their opponent as Milwaukee hit .234 in comparison to the .252 hit by Marquette. The Panthers had 48 kills led by Madi Malone with 11, while Ari Miller and Natalie Schmitz each had nine kills apiece on the night. Bri Geurts had eight kills, while Czhen Beneby had seven kills and a team-best .636 hitting percent on 11 swings with no errors.
 
Kaley Blake had a double-double for the Panthers with 19 assists and 15 digs, while Sarah Schrader was tied for the team lead with 15 digs. Josie Johnson led the Panthers with 21 assists.
 
The Panthers had five service aces for the second consecutive match, including a season-best three by Blake. Miller led MKE with three blocks, while Malone added two blocks of her own to go along with nine digs on the defensive side. Kara Erdmann added nine digs to Milwaukee's stat sheet.
 
Marquette jumped out to an early 12-4 lead in the set and did allow Milwaukee to get its offense going as the Golden Eagle defense was able to keep the Panthers in check throughout the set before going on to take the opener by a 25-14 margin.
 
The two sides were tied at four in the second stanza before the Panthers scored the next three on a service error, a kill by Schmitz and an ace by Blake. With Milwaukee ahead by a 12-9 score, the Golden Eagles scored the next four to take a 13-12 lead. Miller won back service for MKE, but Marquette responded with another four-point run to take a 17-13 lead before winning the set, 25-18.
 
Milwaukee trailed early in the third set but used a four-point rally to take its first lead of the set at 10-9. Still ahead by one at 13-12, a kill by Beneby sparked the Panther offense to five unanswered including kills by Geurts, Schmitz and Lakyn Graves, while Blake also added a service ace in the run.
 
The Panthers extended their lead to 24-17 before the Golden Eagles fended off set point twice, an attack error by Marquette sealed the set win for Milwaukee at 25-17 to send the match to a fourth set.
 
In the fourth, Milwaukee held a slim 6-5 lead, but the Golden Eagles answered with five-straight points to take a four-point lead. The Panthers were able to tie the score at 13 following kills by Miller and Malone, but Marquette took an 18-16 lead and turned it into a 24-16 advantage before capping off the match on a kill to clinch the match with a 25-17 fourth set win.
 
Milwaukee will play at home again on Friday evening, when the Panthers welcome in the Air Force Falcons for a 6 p.m. first serve inside the Klotsche Center.