CHICAGO – On Tuesday, head coach Susie Johnson led the Milwaukee volleyball team to a five-set victory over the Chicago State Cougars and became the program's all-time Division I wins leader with her 272nd victory.
 
The 272 wins broke the tie that Johnson had entering play on Tuesday with Bud K. Haidet Hall of Fame Head Coach, Kathy Litzau. In addition to becoming the volleyball program's all-time leader in wins, Johnson also becomes the all-time wins leader for any women's program at Milwaukee since the program moved to NCAA Division I in 1990.
 
The closely contested match proved to be just that as the Panthers took the opening set by a 25-23 score before winning the third set by a 25-19 margin. The Cougars won the second and fourth sets by identical 25-16 marks, but it was the Panthers to come out on top with a fifth-set score of 15-11.
 
"That was an overall team win," noted Johnson post game. "It was a hard match in which our offense had a hard time getting going. We had to win in other ways and our blocking really came through for us, so I'm really proud of the team for that."
 
"As a team, we did a really nice job in the third set with staying steady and settling down to get ourselves back in a rhythm," Johnson added. "That was a big win for us, and we can use this heading into conference play."
 
Milwaukee as a team had a season-best 14 blocks including a match-high eight by Ari Miller, just two shy of her career-high of 10 set back during her freshman season. Lakyn Graves and Czhen Beneby had six blocks apiece, tying a career-high for Beneby.

Rachel Scott added three blocks, while Madi Malone had two and Natalie Schmitz picked up one on the defensive side of the ball. Malone led the Panthers with nine digs, while Josie Johnson and Sarah Schrader each had seven and Kara Erdmann added six digs of her own.
 
Miller led the Panthers with 17 kills on the night, hitting .405 on the match with just two errors on 37 attempts. Malone was second with 13 kills, while Schmitz added eight kills against one error for a .280 hitting percentage. Beneby chipped in on offense with a half-dozen kills, while Graves added the final two to give the MKE a total of 46 kills.
 
In the assist category, Johnson led the Panthers with 22 helpers while Kaley Blake picked up 15 of her own.
 
The Panthers were one ace shy of a season-high, finishing with eight on the night. Schmitz had three to lead the team with Schrader recording a pair. Blake, Johnson, and Miller each had one ace apiece.
 
In the opening period the Panthers trailed by a 7-6 margin but roared back with six of the next seven points including a pair of kills by Miller and one by Malone. Milwaukee's lead swelled to 21-17 but the Cougars knotted up the set at 21 with four unanswered. The Panthers tallied five of the next seven to battle for the opening set win at 25-23 on a well-placed kill by Schmitz to the opposite corner.
 
MKE took the first point of the second set on an ace by Johnson, but Chicago State responded and did not relinquish the lead as the Cougars took the second set by a 25-16 margin to even the match at one.
 
The third set was evenly matched once again as the lead exchanged hand on several occasions including the Panthers taking a 14-13 lead on a block by Graves and Scott. The duo combined for a second-consecutive block to put the Panthers ahead by two before Schmitz capitalized on a service ace to give Milwaukee a three-point advantage.
 
Milwaukee extended its lead to 21-17 on back-to-back kills by Malone and another by Miller, and ultimately closed out the set on an 8-3 run capped off by a kill from Beneby to send the match to the fourth set.
 
In the fourth, the Panthers and Cougars were tied at 11, before Chicago State took five of the next seven rallies. After MKE won back service on a kill by Malone, the Cougars added three more of their own to take a 19-14 lead.
 
The Panthers were able to get back within three at 19-16, but Chicago State connected on the final six points to take the set by a 25-16 margin to send the match to a fifth and final set.
 
Milwaukee dropped the first three points in the fifth set before the team took a timeout and was able to flip the switch. Beneby got a kill to get the momentum back before an error by the Cougars and a block by Beneby and Miller knotted the score at three.
 
The Panthers tied the score at seven on a kill by Malone, before Miller gave Milwaukee its eighth point to switch sides with the black and gold ahead by one. Schrader drilled a service ace, followed by a point from Chicago State.
 
A block by Miller and Scott and a kill by Miller put Milwaukee ahead by an 11-8 score before the team was able to close out the set with four of the final five points on two kills and a block by Miller, before an attacking error by the Cougars sealed the win for the Panthers.
 
Milwaukee will start the second part of its season on Friday, when the team hosts the IUPUI Jaguars to open Horizon League play at 6:00 p.m. from the Klotsche Center in Milwaukee.