HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – Milwaukee volleyball suffered its first loss of 2024 in Horizon League play, dropping a three-set match to host Northern Kentucky on Saturday afternoon.
 
The Norse won by set scores of 25-23, 25-18, and 25-23, improving to 4-3 in league play while Milwaukee falls to 6-1.
 
Madi Malone led the Panthers with 10 kills, while Natalie Schmitz had eight and Lakyn Graves picked up seven. Graves had a team-best .429 hitting percentage, but Milwaukee as a unit was only able to muster a .101 percentage as a team.
 
Northern Kentucky hit .159, led by Joy Banks with a match-high 11 kills, while both Ava Hoying and Sydney Bray connected on seven kills apiece. Bray led the Norse with a .462 hitting percentage.
 
"It was difficult for us to get into any type of rhythm today," noted head coach Susie Johnson. "It was a hard-fought match that didn't go our way."
 
It was a close match throughout, with Milwaukee holding a slim 36-35 advantage in kills, while the Norse led 34-30 in assists. Both sides were even with five service aces apiece, with NKU leading by one block at 10-9. The Norse also led in digs at 50-46.
 
Despite the close scores at the end of each set, Milwaukee errors were costly as the Panthers had 24 errors with Northern Kentucky ending the match with 18.
 
The first set was close for Milwaukee, as a kill by Malone and a block by Graves tied the score late at 22. However, Northern Kentucky scored three of the final four points to take the opening stanza.
 
The Panthers held a 13-8 lead midway through the second set following a four-point run that included kills by Malone, Bri Geurts, and Graves. A 10-1 rally by the Norse tilted the advantage well in favor of the home team at 21-15 before closing out the set, 25-18.
 
Behind the service of Graves and Josie Johnson, the Panthers built up an early 6-1 lead in the third, but NKU used a strong effort to level the score at nine. The lead changed hands on several occasions with the score tied late at both 19 and 21 on points by the Norse.
 
Milwaukee took advantage of a pair of errors by its host to take a 23-21 lead, but Northern Kentucky finished off the sweep with the final four points of the third set to win, 25-23.
 
Alexis Lewis had five kills and a pair of solo blocks for Milwaukee as Graves led the team with six blocks on the afternoon. Czhen Beneby had two blocks as did Rachel Scott, who also added three kills in the effort.
 
Johnson had 17 assists and five digs, while Kara Erdmann led the Panthers with 19 digs.  Kati Goba led Milwaukee with three of its five aces as a team, and added a half-dozen digs.
 
Milwaukee will not leave the state of Wisconsin for the rest of the month, as the Panthers will welcome the Wright State Raiders to the Klotsche Center next weekend. MKE hosts WSU on Friday, Oct. 18 at 6 p.m., followed by a 2:00 p.m. start on Saturday, Oct. 19.