MILWAUKEE – After splitting the first four sets, it was the visiting DePaul Blue Demons who came away with a five-set win over the Milwaukee Panthers, taking the decisive set by an 18-16 margin.
 
The Panthers surged ahead early in the fifth set, building up a 9-5 advantage before DePaul chipped away and leveled the score at 13. Milwaukee had match point at both 14-13 and 15-14, but DePaul responded each time and eventually earned a match point of its own. Sam Vanda evened the score at 16 with a kill, but the Blue Demons scored the next two to narrowly escape with the win.
 
Vanda led the Panthers with her first career double-double, tallying 11 kills and 14 digs, both season highs. Josie Noble also had a season-best ending the match with 16 kills, including four in the fifth set, and a team-leading eight blocks. Fellow freshman Ella Schuetz recorded her best match of the season with 14 kills and added six digs.
 
"There were a lot of really good moments for our freshmen tonight," stated head coach Susie Johnson after the match.
 
In addition to the success of Milwaukee's youngest class, Kara Erdmann paced the team defensively with 26 digs and contributed with three aces. Milica Tomic had 26 assists, while Josie Johnson added 21. Emily Hansen also had a strong outing, finishing with seven blocks and four kills.
 
Milwaukee claimed a marathon opening set, 34-32, fending off a pair of set points before kills by Schuetz, Bella Lipski, and Vanda sealed the win to give the Panthers the early lead.
 
The Panthers scored the final three points of the second set to secure a 25-20 win and take a 2-0 lead.
 
In the third set, an eight-point rally by DePaul turned a 14-13 Milwaukee lead into a 21-14 advantage for the visitors. The Panthers couldn't recover as DePaul took the third set, 25-16, and followed it with a 25-19 win in the fourth after a tightly-contested frame.
 
DePaul edged out the fifth set in the narrowest of margins in what was the most evenly contested set of the night. Milwaukee hit .250 in the final frame with eight kills and just one error, while DePaul tallied 14 kills and six errors for a .242 hitting percentage. Both teams had one ace, while the Panthers had the lone block of the fifth.
 
"Matches don't get much closer than that … there were many good moments we can take away from tonight and build on moving forward," added Johnson. "Ultimately, we will need to continue to push ahead and get over that threshold to get to where we want to be."
 
Milwaukee ended the night with 60 kills and a .156 hitting percentage, while DePaul hit .176 with 68 kills. The Blue Demons held a slim edge in aces (9-8), blocks (13-11), and digs (88-71) to help stifle the Panthers' attack.
 
Milwaukee will head to Arizona for three matches, beginning on Friday evening against Grand Canyon. First serve is set for 5:00 p.m. (CT) at Desert Financial Arena.