MILWAUKEE – The Milwaukee Panthers fell to the Ball State Cardinals in straight sets on Saturday afternoon at the Al McGuire Center.
 
Josie Noble led Milwaukee with nine kills, while Natalie Schmitz added eight of her own. Noble also had a hand in both of the team's blocks. Kara Erdmann led the Panthers with 10 digs, while Milica Tomic had 12 assists and Josie Johnson dished out 11 helpers.
 
The Panthers were unable to get much going throughout the match offensively or defensively, ending the contest with just 29 kills on 26 assists. Meanwhile, the defense managed only 35 digs.
 
"Give credit to Ball State, they performed really well coming off of an emotional five-set win over Marquette last night," noted Susie Johnson after the match. "They made it really difficult for us to get in any rhythm by pressuring us a lot and digging out a lot of our attacks."
 
Ball State had 95 attempts and connected on 46 kills with just six errors as a unit, finishing the match with a .421 hitting percentage. The Cardinals had 43 digs on Milwaukee's 93 offensive attempts.
 
Noelle VanOort had a match-best 14 kills for Ball State, followed by Carson Tyler with a dozen. Lindsey Green had 23 assists, while she and VanOort had two of the team's four aces.
 
Defensively, Tyler led the Cardinals with 16 digs, while Gwen Crull recorded four blocks and Green added a trio of blocks.
 
"We're gaining experience with each contest and need to push back when we get pushed," Johnson added. "We have a tough match tomorrow against Marquette, so we'll need to be ready for another opponent that will challenge us."
 
After a close set midway through the first, Ball State pulled away late and held off a Panther surge for a 25-17 win. During the second and third sets, the Cardinals took early advantages and held on throughout to win the second and third sets, 25-11 and 25-15, respectively.
 
Milwaukee will take on host Marquette on day three of the Marquette Tournament, with first serve set for 3:00 p.m. at the Al McGuire Center.