MILWAUKEE – Milwaukee volleyball opened the 2023 Horizon League schedule with a win on Friday evening, sweeping the IUPUI Jaguars inside the Klotsche Center by 25-18, 25-17, and 25-11 scores.
 
The Panthers tied their season-best with 14 blocks for the second consecutive match, the most in a three-set match for a Panther squad since they had 17 blocks in a three-setter against North Carolina State in a neutral site contest at Michigan on September 16, 2017.
 
"The block setup was really good, and it required IUPUI to move around and challenge the block in different ways because it was very much stabilized," said Susie Johnson after the contest. "That's what you want to do, your first line of defense is your block, so you are able to get your transition offense out of that."
 
Ari Miller led the front line with eight blocks for the second match in a row, while Czhen Beneby and Lakyn Graves each finished the night with seven blocks apiece. Rachel Scott notched four blocks in the effort, while Madi Malone and Natalie Schmitz each had two apiece.
 
"We went into this match with a definitive game plan and executed it at a very high level," Johnson added. "We felt we knew where IUPUI was going to hit it, and we had a great block setup and were able to dig around it. We were in control of that match the whole time, which is what you want to do."
 
Offensively, Milwaukee improved from Tuesday's night match against Chicago State, hitting .237 on the night with 30 kills including a team-best eight by Schmitz. Miller had six kills with no errors as she hit .545, while Scott tallied three kills on four attempts and hit .750 on the night. Graves also tied her season high with five kills on the match, hitting .400 in the effort.
 
"The offense took a little while to figure them out, but we were able to score more consistently as the match went on," noted Johnson.
 
The Panthers had 26 assists on their 30 kills, led by Kaley Blake with 12 assists, while Josie Johnson added seven. Milwaukee had four players with at least five digs including Blake with a team-best eight, followed by Sarah Schrader with seven, Kara Erdmann with six and Malone with five.
 
"We also executed our serve at a high level," Johnson concluded. Milwaukee ended the night with five aces including a pair by Johnson, while Blake, Miller, and Schrader each had one.
 
Milwaukee was slow out of the gates in the first set as the Panthers and Jaguars split the first 18 points of the match. Miller got a kill off a pass by Johnson, while Miller and Schmitz, followed by Beneby and Miller connected on back-to-back blocks to put MKE ahead by a 12-9 score.
 
IUPUI answered back with four-straight points before the Panthers got service back on an error by the Jaguars. A five-point run by Milwaukee was capped off on a kill from Schmitz to put the Panthers ahead by an 18-16 score interrupted momentarily by a kill by the Jaguars. Milwaukee scored the next six points including a pair of kills by Malone before another IUPUI kill, but Malone was able to put down the final kill to give Milwaukee the first-set win.
 
The two sides were even at five through the first 10 points of the second set, but the Panthers scored the next four points including two more blocks, the first by Graves and Scott and the second by Graves and Malone. Milwaukee continued to build upon its lead and opened a 15-8 lead before the Jaguars clawed back within two points at 18-16.
 
A three-point burst by the Panthers, including a solo block by Miller, and an assisted block by Miller and Scott pushed Milwaukee back ahead by five points before the Panthers closed out the set with the final four points capped off by a kill by Miller.
 
After Milwaukee led by a 3-2 margin in the first set, the Panthers earned back service on a kill by Schmitz. The Panthers continued to score the next seven points to open an 11-2 advantage which included kills by Scott and Graves to finish the stretch.
 
MKE continued to score in bursts and take advantage of several late miscues by the Jaguars and built its lead all the way to 24-9 on a kill from Beneby. The Jaguars scored the next two points, before a service error by IUPUI sealed the win for the Panthers.
 
Milwaukee will be back in action on Saturday afternoon, when the Panthers play host to the Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons beginning at 4 p.m. from the Klotsche Center. Coverage of the match will be available on ESPN+ as well as on MKEPanthers.com with live stats of the match.