MILWAUKEE – The Milwaukee volleyball team opened the season with a strong showing against No. 5 Stanford on Friday evening, the Panthers hung with the Cardinal throughout the match falling in straight sets, 25-20, 27-25, and 25-17.
 
It was a balanced attack for the Black and Gold as Madi Malone and Natalie Schmitz led the offense with eight kills apiece. Bri Geurts and Lakyn Graves each had four kills as the Panthers compiled 29 kills as a unit.
 
Newcomer Milica Tomic dished out 15 assists while Josie Johnson added a dozen, while the duo along with Schmitz and Malone combined for five Panther service aces.
 
Defensively, Kara Erdmann led the way with 11 digs, while newcomer Alexis Lewis had three blocks at the net. The Panthers matched the Cardinal defensive effort with both sides equaling five blocks, and 32 digs apiece.
 
"I am so proud of the team … the focus of the match was to be competitive and stay locked in and we achieved that," commented head coach Susie Johnson after the match. "We had an all-around effort, from serve-receive, serve pressure, passing, and attacking … a great start to the season despite the outcome."
 
Milwaukee tied the opening set at 14 with five unanswered points, taking advantage of three Cardinal errors. The Panthers were within one at 21-20, but a service error gave advantage back to Stanford, who finished off the set with the last four points.
 
After trailing 10-7 in the second set, the Panthers rattled off another five unanswered points including an assisted block by Graves and Malone, and a solo block by Graves.
 
The Panthers led by as many as five points late in the second set following a 5-1 rally to take a 21-16 advantage and were within set point at 24-21. Stanford scored three-straight to tie it before the Panthers earned set point again on a kill by Malone. However, the wave of Cardinal proved to be too much as the visitors won the second set 27-25.
 
Milwaukee continued to be a thorn in the Stanford side in the early stages of the third set, taking a 7-6 lead on a pass from Tomic to Schmitz. The Cardinal held a 16-12 lead and scored five-straight to lead by nine before finishing off the set at 25-17.
 
Stanford finished the match with 47 kills with Elia Rubin (14) and Ipar Kurt (11) reaching double figures. Taylor Yu got her career off to a strong start with a 40-assist effort. Sami Francis had four blocks, while Kurt had seven digs for the Cardinal.
 
Milwaukee gets right back to work tomorrow evening, as the Panthers travel to DeKalb, Illinois for a neutral-site match against Western Illinois at Northern Illinois' Convocation Center. First serve is set for 7:00 p.m.