MILWAUKEE – The Milwaukee volleyball team trailed by two sets but were able to complete the reverse sweep, fighting back to win 3-2 on Friday evening in the team's opening match of the Panther Invitational against Illinois State.
 
The opening two sets were closely contested with the Redbirds scoring 25-21 and 25-22 set wins. Milwaukee responded 25-20 in the third and 25-18 in the fourth to force the contest to the fifth, where the Panthers finished off the match, 15-7.
 
It was an all-around effort for Milwaukee in the defining victory, hitting .280 in the latter three sets after the sluggish start that saw the Panthers hit .120 in the opening two frames.
 
"That was an important win for the team," commented head coach Susie Johnson. "Everybody trusted one another across the lineup … I pushed our team in that match, and they responded well with the reverse sweep."
 
Natalie Schmitz led Milwaukee with 15 kills, while Lakyn Graves set a new career high with 12 kills. Madi Malone added 11 kills and 11 digs for her fourth double-double of the season. Five other Panthers also recorded kills as Milwaukee filled the box score.
 
"I asked the team what the strength of our team was, and they said it was the balance of our offense," Johnson added on the team's mindset offensively.
 
Josie Johnson and Milica Tomic paced the offense with 41 combined assists, including a team-high 26 by Johnson.
 
The Panther service game also proved to be key in the win as Milwaukee put down a season-best 10 aces, including three by both Graves and Johnson.
 
Defensively, the Panthers also had a season-best with 14 blocks on the match, with Graves leading the Black & Gold with eight. Alexis Lewis had six blocks, while Rachel Scott had four and Bri Geurts added three.
 
"Defensively, we stepped it up as the match went on … our block was really stable for us up front," Johnson added.

Kara Erdmann had a match-high 36 digs for the Panthers, while Tomic, Johnson, and Malone all reached double figures in digs.
 
The Redbirds took advantage of 13 Panther hitting errors in the opening two sets to take the commanding lead, pushing the Panthers to the brink on the match.
 
"Illinois State came out really strong," Johnson added. "We had to make adjustments, and we were able to fight back and answered."

The third set was even until the end, when Milwaukee put together a four-point run including an ace by Graves and capped off by a block from Geurts and Lewis. Illinois State got as close as two, but the Panthers scored the final three points to win their first set.
 
MKE jumped out to a sizable advantage early in the fourth at 9-3, but Illinois State was able to close the gap to slice the lead down to 10-9. The Panthers slowly built their lead back up and scored the final four points of the set including kills by Geurts and Lewis and topped off by a service ace by Graves.
 
The fifth set saw Illinois State's early lead evaporate behind the service of Tomic, who helped put Milwaukee back in front at 5-3. Ahead by one at 6-5, the Panthers put together their longest offensive effort of the evening with five unanswered to take an 11-5 lead.
 
The Panthers flexed their muscle in the closing points by scoring four of the final five tallies, with a block by Graves and Scott, with kills coming from Geurts, Graves, and Schmitz to put the match away.
 
Milwaukee will be back in action on Saturday during day two of the Panther Invitational, taking on St. Thomas at 4:00 p.m. The match will follow the Illinois State versus Iowa match, scheduled to take place at 12:00 p.m. at the Klotsche Center.