MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. – On a Friday night at the UPMC Events Center in suburban Pittsburgh, the Milwaukee volleyball team improved to 3-0 in Horizon League play as the Panthers defeated the Robert Morris Colonials by a 3-1 score.
 
The Panthers took the opening set by a 25-15 margin, before the Colonials evened the score at one with a 27-25 second-set win. Milwaukee scored wins in the next two sets, 25-13 and 25-17 to register its 11th win in the team's last 13 matches.
 
Milwaukee hit a solid .261 as a team including a match-best .382 in the third set with a match high 17 kills. For the entirety of the contest MKE had 54 kills while recording 51 assists. The Panthers tied their season-best with 14 blocks on the match, equaling the mark set twice last week at Chicago State and at home against IUPUI.
 
"This was a very balanced offensive match," noted head coach Susie Johnson post game. "We hit .261 as a team which was good on offense, while defensively we had 14 blocks and 74 digs. Our balance was key tonight and helped us to the win."
 
The Panther defense held Robert Morris to a season-best .076 hitting percentage in Horizon League matches, as Milwaukee had its highest dig total of the season in league play with 74.
 
Sarah Schrader led the Panthers with 24 digs, while Kaley Blake was second on the team with 13 digs on the night. Blake had a season-best 28 assists in the match of Milwaukee's 51, while Josie Johnson notched 15 assists and Schrader added five of her own. Johnson led Milwaukee with two aces, while Blake, Schrader, and Ari Miller each recorded an ace on the night.
 
Miller led the defense up front as she matched her season-best with eight blocks, including one solo block as she moves into fifth place in all-time blocks with 397 and is just three away from becoming the fifth player in program history with 400 blocks for their career. Rachel Scott continued her torrid play of late with another seven blocks, while Lakyn Graves continues to perform at a high level with a half-dozen blocks on the match.
 
Offensively, the Panthers had three players reach double figures in kills, led by Madi Malone with 19 on the night. Miller and Graves each ended the contest with 10 kills apiece, as all three hit better than .300 on the night. Czhen Beneby contributed with seven kills, with Natalie Schmitz picking up six kills of her own over four sets.
 
The Panthers opened the match slow as the team was unable to continue its hot stretch following back-to-back sweeps to open Horizon League play. After trailing by a 7-4 margin, Milwaukee was able to fight back and knot the score at 13 before rolling out seven unanswered points behind the service of Blake to take a 20-13 lead.
 
Ultimately, Milwaukee scored 12 of the final 14 points of the opening set, which included two kills each by Graves and Schmitz and included a pair of assisted blocks by Graves and Scott.
 
After taking the opening set by a 25-13 score, Robert Morris jumped out to a quick 6-1 lead in the second set before the Panthers stormed back to take a 15-14 advantage. The score was tied on nine occasions before it was ultimately the Colonials to come out with the slim two-point second set win at 27-25.
 
In the third, Milwaukee returned to form with the first five points of the period before the team's lead swelled to 10-1 behind the service of both Kati Goba and Schrader. Milwaukee continued to add onto its lead and led by a 20-10 score after a kill by Miller. The Panthers scored four of the final five points of the set capped off by a kill from Schmitz on a pass by Johnson as Milwaukee took the third set by a 25-13 difference.
 
The Panthers did not trail in the fourth set aside from a tie at three points apiece. Graves and Malone recorded back-to-back kills to give Milwaukee a 5-3 lead as the black and gold flexed their way through the final set and clinched the match on an attacking error by Robert Morris to take the set by a 25-17 score and win the match in four sets.
 
Milwaukee gets right back to action on Saturday afternoon, when the team visits the Beeghly Center in Youngstown, Ohio as the Panthers will visit the Penguins of Youngstown State beginning at 1:00 p.m. (CT).