TEMPE, Ariz. – Milwaukee volleyball opened its weekend set at the Sun Devil Classic with a three-set loss to the Grand Canyon Antelopes on Friday evening. GCU won 25-20, 25-16, 25-18 to secure the victory.
 
Milwaukee struggled to get their offense firing on all cylinders, committing twice as many hitting errors as Grand Canyon with 22 to the Antelopes' 11. The Panthers only trailed by five in kills at 38-33 but finished the match hitting just .111.
 
Natalie Schmitz posted a team-high 11 kills and added two blocks. Fellow senior Josie Johnson led the way with 14 assists, while Kara Erdmann recorded a team-high with 12 digs.
 
Josie Noble continued her strong play of late with a .267 hitting percentage and seven kills, while Sam Vanda chipped in five kills on the offensive end.
 
Bella Lipski tied a back-and-forth first set at 16 with her second kill of the night, but the Antelopes scored the next seven points behind the service of Natalie Guerrero to take a 22-16 advantage. The Panthers pushed back with three straight points, but it was not enough, as Grand Canyon took the opener, 25-20.
 
"We had some flashes of some really good volleyball tonight," commented head coach Susie Johnson. "We need to do a better job of sustaining those moments and being more consistent throughout the entirety of the match."
 
Milwaukee fell behind 4-0 in the second set but responded by scoring six of the next seven points, including three kills by Schmitz, to take a 6-5 lead. With the Panthers still ahead by one at 8-7, Grand Canyon went on a 9-3 rally to open a five-point edge and eventually closed out the set for a 25-16 win.
 
The early stages of the third set were also tight, with Milwaukee holding an 8-6 lead following a kill by Ella Schuetz. The Antelopes again responded with nine of the next 12 points and later added five unanswered to open a 21-13 lead. The Panthers scored five of the next seven to close within five, but again came up short in their comeback bid, falling 25-18.
 
"We had some encouraging moments as we build towards Horizon League play," Johnson added. "Tonight was a tough loss, but we'll come back tomorrow and have another opportunity in front of us."
 
Anaelena Ramirez led Grand Canyon with 10 kills, while Hayden Goodman had nine kills with a team-best five blocks. Taylor Kubacek dished out a match-high 20 assists for the Antelopes.
 
Game two of the three-game weekend series at Desert Financial Arena will take place on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. (CT), when the Panthers take on the Pepperdine Waves in their first-ever meeting.