MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. – It took five sets, but the Milwaukee volleyball team earned its 13th win of the Horizon League schedule, knocking off host Robert Morris on Friday evening at the UPMC Events Center.
 
The victory seals a top-two seed in the upcoming Horizon League Championship, and a first round bye as Milwaukee will begin postseason play in the league semifinals on Nov. 23. The win also gives the Panthers their second six-match winning streak of the year, equaling its stretch to open conference play from Sept. 27 through Oct. 11.
 
It was a grind throughout the contest as Milwaukee took the odd-numbered sets, winning the opener 27-25 before a 25-8 third-set win and finishing the night off with a 15-8 victory in the fifth. Robert Morris won both the second and fourth periods by identical 25-21 scores.
 
"Robert Morris came to play," noted head coach Susie Johnson. "We responded and were able to keep our composure throughout the night and countered their effort."
 
Five Panthers had at least seven kills on the match including a team-best 16 by Madi Malone. Natalie Schmitz had 11 kills, followed by Rachel Scott with 10, Lakyn Graves with nine, Alexis Lewis with eight, and Bri Geurts with seven.
 
"Offensively we were really balanced throughout the match," Johnson added. "Robert Morris is a strong defensive team and played at a very high level but we were able to adjust and had several players step up at some big moments for us."
 
Josie Johnson had an impressive double-double with 26 assists and a career-high 23 digs. Kara Erdmann had 30 digs and seven assists, while Milica Tomic added 16 helpers.
 
The Milwaukee block was working throughout the match as the Panthers finished with a dozen as a team including six each from Graves and Lewis. Malone, Schmitz, and Scott all had three blocks in the effort.
 
"This was one of our most complete defensive efforts so far this season," added Johnson. "Both our blocking effort and our digs were essential in helping us get that win, notably the 53 digs by Kara and Josie."
 
MKE had a 20-15 lead in the opening set, but a 6-1 run by RMU evened the score at 21. Milwaukee took a 24-21 lead, but the Colonials scored the next four to set up their own set point at 25-24. Ultimately the Panthers finished off the opener on kills by Lewis and Graves with an Erdmann ace sandwiched between.
 
After surviving the first set, the Panthers were not as fortunate in the second as Robert Morris won by a 25-21 score. Milwaukee hit at .182 in the opening two sets with 10 hitting errors but were able to limit the damage through the remainder of the match with just four errors.
 
In the third, Milwaukee flexed and shut down the Colonials with a dominant 25-8 effort, including a match-high four blocks. Five Panthers had at least two kills including three apiece from Malone and Schmitz.
 
The fourth set was a battle of attrition as both teams ended the set with 30 digs apiece, including 12 by Erdmann and 10 from RMU libero Jasmine Purakal. Ultimately the closely-contested set went to the Colonials by four.
 
No stranger to success in the fifth set, Milwaukee thrived under pressure and did not have an error throughout, hitting a match-best .500 offensively with 11 kills on 22 swings. Malone had three kills while Geurts, Graves, and Lewis all had two as the Panthers were first to eight points before taking the set by four at 15-11.
 
Purakal ended the match with a season-best 31 digs for the Colonials. The defense led to offense for RMU as Hillarie Adams and Jaaliyah Evans each had 15 kills, while Jocelyn Jourdan was one off the team lead with 14 kills. Natalie Stepanovich had a double-double with 11 kills and 21 digs, with Ashleigh Wallin dishing out a team-best 28 assists for RMU.
 
Milwaukee and Robert Morris will go head-to-head again on Saturday, with tomorrow's match set for 12:00 p.m. (CT) at the UPMC Events Center.