MILWAUKEE – After dropping the first two sets, the Milwaukee volleyball team stormed back to upend the Wright State Raiders in five sets on Friday evening in the Klotsche Center.
 
The win draws Milwaukee (7-1 Horizon) even with Wright State (7-1 Horizon) atop the league standings heading into tomorrow's pivotal second match of the weekend series.
 
Natalie Schmitz had 12 kills on the night, including six in the clinching set as the Panthers erased a 10-5 deficit to win the fifth, 17-15. Milwaukee had strong service down the stretch as Lakyn Graves, Josie Johnson, and Milica Tomic all helped the Black & Gold claw their way back even at 15 before an ace by Tomic followed by Graves and Rachel Scott connecting on the match-clinching block to win it for MKE.
 
"This was such a team effort all the way around," commented head coach Susie Johnson. "To have the resilience that we showed against the first-place team, and to keep chipping away one point at a time late in the match, it just shows how we don't panic and stayed composed as a group."
 
After Wright State took the first two sets, 25-20 and 25-22, the Panthers responded with a 25-22 third set win led by Madi Malone, who had seven of her team-best 18 kills in the integral third period.
 
Milwaukee had a match-best four blocks in the fourth set to win, 25-17, as Scott came in and made an immediate impact with two blocks in the stanza. The Panthers held Wright State to a .094 hitting percentage in the fourth and backed it up defensively by keeping the Raiders at .071 in the fifth, taking the deciding period, 17-15.
 
On the contrary, Milwaukee hit a match-best .313 in the fourth set and had a .269 hitting percentage in the fifth to finish the match at .260 on the night with 64 kills. Wright State was one off the pace with 63 kills, while hitting .188 overall on the night.
 
Malone and Schmitz ended the match with double-figures in kills with Czhen Beneby and Alexis Lewis both finishing the night with eight kills apiece. Graves had seven kills and a team-best six blocks. Bri Geurts and Gabby Wire each finished the night with five kills.
 
Scott ended the evening with four blocks, while Beneby and Lewis were also tied in blocks with one solo, and two assisted blocks on each of their ledgers.
 
Johnson had a team-best 29 assists and three service aces, while Tomic added 22 assists and a pair of aces. Graves also chipped in with two aces as Malone and Kati Goba gave the Panthers nine as a team.
 
Paced by Kara Erdmann and her 30 digs, Malone was second on the team with 13 for another double-double. Tomic also had a double-double with 11 digs with Goba also corralling 11 digs.
 
"Our depth really showed tonight," Johnson added. "We were streaky early on, but we settled in, and we continued to execute in challenging moments. I was proud of our group for bouncing back throughout the night … it was a collective team effort."
 
The match was Milwaukee's third reverse sweep of the season, after accomplishing the feat against both Illinois State on Sept. 13, and Oakland on Sept. 27.
 
The match was also the Panthers' 11th consecutive win in five-set matches, dating back to 2023, to set a new program mark in the Division I era. The team had previously won 10-straight five-set decisions between the 1998 and 1999 seasons.
 
Wright State was led by Sam Ott with 17 kills and Mya Ayro with 14. Lauren Yacobucci had a team-best four aces and ran the Raider offense with 53 assists as she recorded a double-double with 11 digs. Haley Robinson had a team-best five blocks, while Jenny Wessling led the Raiders with 27 digs.
 
Milwaukee and Wright State will meet again on Saturday inside the Klotsche Center with first serve set for 2:00 p.m. The winner of the match will exit the weekend in sole possession of first place in the Horizon League at the halfway point of conference play.