HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – Behind several career performances, the Milwaukee volleyball team was able to fight off a valiant effort by Northern Kentucky and win a five-set thriller over the Norse at Regents Hall. The win improves the Panther record to 6-0 in Horizon League matches.
 
Madi Malone paced the offense with 25 of Milwaukee's season-high 77 kills, while both Natalie Schmitz with 18 kills and Rachel Scott with 10 each had career-best nights on offense.
 
The Panthers also had a season-best 72 assists, including a career-high 33 from Josie Johnson, while Milica Tomic had 23 assists of her own. Johnson also tied her season-best with 11 digs for her third double-double of the season.
 
Leading the way in digs was Kara Erdmann, who set another career-high with 38 digs to take over sole possession of third place on the single-match digs list for five-set decisions. Malone added 12 digs, while Kati Goba picked up 11 and Tomic had 10. The double-doubles were the ninth for Malone, and the sixth for Tomic this season.
 
Milwaukee's block came up big when needed with 10 on the night including seven from Lakyn Graves. Malone and Bri Geurts each had three, while Alexis Lewis added a pair.
 
After dropping the first set, 25-22, the Panthers trailed by as many as six points in the second and were able to erase the deficit to win a 28-26 set decision. NKU responded with a 25-22 third set while holding off a late Panther surge, but Milwaukee was able to force the fifth with a 25-20 fourth set win.
 
In the deciding set, Milwaukee trailed 6-2 early and were behind 14-13 but were able to score the final three points of the match to take the set, 16-14 and win the match in five.
 
"It was an incredible night for our team," commented Susie Johnson. "Tonight was an overall team effort with a lot of challenging moments, but we were really able to fight for each other and come together to earn the win."
 
Milwaukee outhit its host with a .193 hitting percentage to the .177 by Northern Kentucky. The Norse limited their errors, however, with just 22 compared to the 34 errors by the Panthers. NKU also had an 8-5 lead in aces, and a 14-10 advantage in blocks to keep the match close.
 
"NKU played great … we had to counter their incredible play all night," Johnson added. "We were very coachable as a team even when facing adversity in the match, but we stuck together and continued to fight."
 
The first set saw Milwaukee take four of the first five points but fell behind ad 13-12 and were never able to regain the lead as the Norse took the opener, 25-22.
 
Milwaukee trailed 22-17 late in the second before Lewis got a kill off a Johnson pass to spark six unanswered by MKE for a one-point lead. The teams exchanged points until it was 26-26 before Malone set the Panthers up for a set win with a kill, as NKU had an error to clinch the set for the Panthers, 28-26.
 
In the third, Northern Kentucky led by a comfortable, 15-5 lead but Milwaukee chipped away including a four-point run late capped off by a Lewis and Schmitz block to get MKE back within three at 22-19. However, the Norse did just enough to get by with a 25-22 third set win.
 
Needing to win the final two sets, Milwaukee fell behind by three midway through the fourth at 16-13. A kill by Malone, ace by Tomic, block by Graves and Malone, and a kill by Geurts gave the Panthers a one-point lead at 17-16. A five-point run behind the service of Graves propelled Milwaukee to a 23-18 lead, before Scott put down the finishing point and send the match to a fifth.
 
The Panthers trailed 8-5 before the two sides switched ends of the court. Milwaukee kept it close before Schmitz added her fourth kill of the set to tie the score at nine. Northern Kentucky led by two points twice late in the set, but the resilient Panthers were able to tie the score at 14 on a block by Graves. Schmitz and Malone capped off the match with back-to-back kills to give MKE the victory.
 
As a team, the Panthers' 77 kills and 72 assists were the most since Oct. 1, 2021, with 79 and 72 against Wright State. Milwaukee ended the night with 100 digs, the most since 2019, when the team had 103 at Oakland on Oct. 13.
 
Geurts and Lewis ended the night with eight kills apiece with Graves adding seven of her own. Goba had a team-best three aces on the night.
 
Allison Risley with 15 and Joy Banks with 14 led the Norse in kills, while Torie Houston had a team-best 28 assists for the Norse. NKU tied a season-high with 14 blocks including a dozen assisted blocks by Allie Siefke. Lucy Cluxton had a match-high 25 digs for Northern Kentucky.
 
Milwaukee and Northern Kentucky will be back on the court at Regents Hall on Saturday afternoon with first serve slated for 1:00 p.m. (CT).