DAYTON, Ohio – The Milwaukee volleyball season came to a close in the Horizon League semifinals on Saturday evening as the second-seeded Panthers fell to Cleveland State in four sets at CJ McLin Gymnasium.
 
Milwaukee won the opening set by a 25-18 score, but Cleveland State was able to push the Panthers to the brink in each of their next three sets and were able to win all three by the slimmest of margins, 25-23, 25-23 and 27-25.
 
"This was an absolute heartbreaker for our team," commented head coach Susie Johnson after the match. "We had to continue to counter what Cleveland State was doing throughout the match … we had to compete at the highest level in a very challenging match against a very strong opponent."
 
Madi Malone capped her season with a 19-kill performance, while tallying a career-best 30 digs for the 52nd double-double of her career. Kara Erdmann led the Panthers with 34 digs, finishing the year with the single-season records of 719 digs and 5.85 digs per set. Josie Johnson also had her 14th career double-double with 23 assists and 18 digs.
 
"Madi played incredibly well all evening long for us, as did Kara and Josie," Johnson added.
 
The Panthers held the edge in kills with a 64-56, with 63 of those kills coming off assists. However, the difference proved to be Milwaukee's 26 hitting errors (.194 hitting percentage), while Cleveland State only had 18 errors (.184 hitting percentage). MKE did what they could defensively, with 111 digs against the offensive attempts by CSU.
 
Milwaukee started the match off with a strong showing in the opening set with a match-high .244 hitting percentage, while holding Cleveland State to just a .146 attacking percent. The Panthers took a 6-2 lead and held a decent lead throughout, finishing off the set on a kill by Lakyn Graves for the 25-18 win.
 
The second set was a reversal of the first with CSU taking the early 7-2 advantage before Milwaukee fought back to level the score at 14 on a kill by Malone. The next four points went to the Vikings before the Panthers surged late to get within one at 24-23, but it was too much to overcome as Cleveland State tied the match at one set apiece.
 
In the third, both teams traded points back and forth resulting in 15 tied scores and 11 lead changes. Malone led the Panthers with six kills in the set and hit .357 individually, but the Vikings outhit Milwaukee .214 to .152 as a team to win yet another close set, 25-23.
 
The Panthers scored the first four points in the fourth set and looked to be well on their way to forcing a fifth period, leading by as many as five at 11-6. However, a 7-1 run by the Vikings gave CSU its first lead of the set, which was countered by five-straight from MKE. The Panthers extended their lead to 20-15, but Cleveland State closed out the set on a 9-3 run to take the match, 27-25, in the fourth.
 
The fourth set saw three Panthers record six kills apiece including Alexis Lewis, Malone, and Natalie Schmitz. However, the Panthers hit a match-low .141 as a team, committing 11 errors along the way. Erdmann and Malone had 15 digs each in the fourth set, while helping hold CSU to a .179 hitting percentage, but it was not enough as the Vikings committed just one error in the fourth.
 
Cleveland State ended the match with 10 blocks to Milwaukee's eight, with the Panthers led by Czhen Beneby, Graves, and Lewis with three blocks each. MKE held a 6-5 advantage in aces including a team-best two from Hallie Cook.
 
Schmitz had 15 kills and added five digs and Kati Goba recorded a season-best 14 digs. Lewis ended with eight kills, while Rachel Scott picked up seven kills throughout the evening. Beneby and Graves had six kills each, and Milica Tomic had 24 assists and six digs to close out her freshman campaign.
 
Bri Geurts also appeared for Milwaukee in the fourth set, as she along with Beneby, Graves, Lewis, Malone, and Tatum Catalano round out their careers with a Horizon League Championship Semifinal appearance.
 
"Our six seniors should be very proud of ending their careers with such a well-fought match," Johnson concluded.
 
Milwaukee finishes the season at 20-12 overall with a 15-3 mark in league matches. It's the first time the Panthers scored back-to-back 20-win seasons since the 2010 (20) and 2011 (25) seasons, while the 15 league wins was the most for the Panthers since the 16-win 2021 conference season.