ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Milwaukee volleyball team recorded its first sweep of the season on Saturday, as the Panthers took care of the host St. Thomas Tommies in a three-set match, winning by 25-19, 25-14, and 25-18 scores.
 
"Today was a good result as we're really starting to come together," noted head coach Susie Johnson postgame. "Everyone was in rhythm and our defense benefited because of how well our offense was clicking."
 
The Panthers (2-4) improved on last night's performance offensively as the team hit a season-best .321 on the offensive side of the ball with 49 kills on 45 assists. Defensively, Milwaukee stymied the Tommie offense as St. Thomas was only able to hit .081, which was a season-best for the Panther defense.
 
Offensively, Ari Miller led the way with 13 kills and a .545 hitting percentage, while Natalie Schmitz finished the match with 11 kills and a .450 hitting percentage. Bri Geurts had 10 kills of her own, including seven in the team's dominant second set.
 
With her performance through the team's three matches in Minnesota, Miller was named as a member of the All-Tournament team. Miller had 40 kills and hit .473 with one ace and a dozen blocks as she led the team with 47.5 points on the weekend.
 
Kaley Blake tied her season-best mark with 26 kills, while Josie Johnson ended the match with 17 assists on the afternoon.
 
Milwaukee had 58 digs on the match including a career-best 25 from Sarah Schrader, while Kati Goba also recorded a season-best with a dozen digs.
 
The Panthers had nine blocks as a team on the afternoon, with four each for Miller, Lakyn Graves and Rachel Scott. Madi Malone added three blocks as well, while Schmitz was also able to secure a pair of blocks.
 
Milwaukee jumped out to a quick four-point lead in the opening set on three kills by Miller and one by Malone. However, St. Thomas was able to catch back up to the Panthers and took a one-point lead at 12-11 midway through the set.
 
Another four-point run by the Panthers gave Milwaukee the lead back at 15-12. The black and gold did not give the lead back as the team got two-straight kills by Miller including a well-placed attack in the middle of the floor to seal the opening-set for Milwaukee, 25-19.
 
St. Thomas took an early 6-2 lead in the second period, but it was all Milwaukee the rest of the way as the Panthers scored five unanswered including a pair of kills by both Geurts and Miller to put MKE up by three at 9-6. The Tommies tied the set at 10 before Milwaukee flexed its muscle and connected on a 14-3 run to take an 11-point advantage at 24-13 before capping off the set with a Geurts kill off a Blake assist.

The third set was tied at eight through the first 16 rallies before the Panthers regained their form and scored the next four points on kills by Malone, Miller and Geurts to take a 12-8 lead. Ahead by a 17-15 score, the Panthers once again went on a lengthy rally with the next six unanswered points to take a 23-15 lead before polishing off the set at 25-18 as Miller got the match-clinching kill from Blake.
 
Milwaukee heads home for the first time this season and will welcome in Northwestern for a 6:00 p.m. first serve at the Klotsche Center. Tickets are available at MKEPanthers.com/Tickets.