MADISON, Wis. – Visiting the No. 8 Wisconsin Badgers, the Milwaukee volleyball team fell in straight sets on Tuesday evening at the UW Field House.
 
It was a strong offensive effort by the Badgers to take the straight-set win as Wisconsin ended the contest hitting .387 on the match with 48 kills, eight aces and adding 10 blocks defensively. Wisconsin won by 25-13, 25-13, and 25-14 scores.
 
"Wisconsin is a very good team, and they're very hard to defend," noted head coach Susie Johnson. "I thought we competed really well … served tough … it was just hard to outlast them."
 
Milwaukee was led by Bri Geurts with six kills, while Natalie Schmitz and Madi Malone had four kills apiece. Lakyn Graves added three kills and led the Panthers with a pair of blocks.
 
Josie Johnson had 11 assists with Milica Tomic scoring five and Kara Erdmann adding two helpers to go along with her team-best nine digs.
 
"I was really proud of them in the locker room … we did a lot of things really well," Johnson added. "This is the type of team that you can learn something from, and we'll be talking about that in practice as we take this into the next few weekends heading into league play."
 
Milwaukee was unable to overcome and early deficit the first set, down 23-9 before scoring the next four on kills by Geurts and Graves followed by a Malone ace and a Graves block. The Badgers scored the next two to take the opening period.
 
Wisconsin hit a match-best .536 in the second set, committing just one attacking error to take the second set by an identical score to the first, 25-13.
 
Milwaukee kept with the Badgers in the early stages of the third, with the score tied at four through the first eight points. Wisconsin opened a 16-9 lead, but the Panthers scored the next three on a kill by Graves, ace by Malone and an error by the Badgers to get back within four. Ultimately, Wisconsin picked up the 25-14 win.
 
The Badgers were led by Julia Orzol with 14 kills while Devyn Robinson picked up 13. Charlie Fuerbringer had a 35-assist effort, while Sarah Franklin picked up a team-best three aces. Wisconsin had three reach double-figures in digs, led by Lola Schumacher with 16. The team also had 10 blocks, led by CC Crawford with six.
 
Milwaukee returns home to the Klotsche Center on Friday evening in their first match of the 2024 Panther Invitational against Illinois State at 7:00 p.m.