OMAHA, Neb. – Milwaukee and Omaha met for the second straight day at Baxter Arena, with the host Mavericks earning a three-set win to improve to 2-0.
 
The Mavericks had their offense firing again with 46 kills and a .347 hitting percentage, led by another 15-kill effort from Kali Jurgensmeier. Ella Tiarks and Faith Venable each had 10 kills in the win.
 
Omaha also won the defensive battle with 45 digs to Milwaukee's 34. The Panthers were led by Kara Erdmann with 12 digs and Sam Vanda with 11.
 
"Give credit to Omaha, they are a really good team," said head coach Susie Johnson. "We had some good moments today and had some strong responses to their pressure. It wasn't the outcome that we wanted, but we competed well today."
 
Offensively for the Panthers, the team had 36 kills overall on the day but after just 10 kills in each of the first two sets, they put together a strong effort with 16 kills and a match-low five errors in the 25-21 third set.
 
Natalie Schmitz had 10 kills to lead the way for Milwaukee, while Annie Eschenbach had eight and Vanda added seven. Josie Noble chipped in with five kills and had two of Milwaukee's five service aces.
 
Josie Johnson dished out 17 assists and Milica Tomic had 15 helpers, with the pair of setters each contributing with an ace of their own.
 
Bella Lipski had a team-high four blocks, with Vanda recording three on the defensive front for the Panthers.
 
After a 25-13 opening set, the Panthers erased an early deficit and took an 11-9 lead in the second. However, five unanswered points by Omaha swung momentum back in favor of the home team before MKE leveled the score at 20 on a service ace by Vanda. The Mavericks scored five of the final seven points to take the set, 25-22.
 
Milwaukee trailed 14-13 in a back-and-forth third set before a three-point rally gave the Mavericks a 17-13 advantage. The Panthers got back within two at 20-18 but were unable to keep pace as the home team won the match with a 25-21 set victory.
 
Milwaukee returns home for their next three matches, all taking place as part of the 2025 Panther Invitational. Milwaukee will face Iowa State on Friday, Sept. 5 at 7:00 p.m. inside the Klotsche Center.