TEMPE, Ariz. – Milwaukee volleyball took on first-time opponent Pepperdine on Saturday afternoon and fell to the Waves in three sets at Desert Financial Arena.
 
The Panther middles led the way, with Josie Noble collecting eight kills and Bella Lipski adding six. Josie Johnson had 13 assists and two aces, while Ella Schuetz led Milwaukee with a dozen digs.
 
Defensively the Panthers had six blocks, including four from Annie Eschenbach, while Noble added three.

"Our team rebounded today and executed a great defensive game plan," said Susie Johnson on her team's effort. "Pepperdine will be a top team in the West Coast Conference, and we were able to compete at a high level with a strong program."
 
Tristen Raymond was doing it all for Pepperdine with nine kills, 17 assists, and six digs, leading the team in all three categories. Ella Piskorz contributed with 14 kills and six blocks to lead the Waves.
 
"This has been a very tough non-conference schedule for our very young team," Johnson added. "We are continuously seeing improvement and continuing to push to have more consistency in our team."
 
Pepperdine got out to a hot start with the first eight points of the opening set and led 16-8 midway through. Johnson delivered a service ace and Noble got a kill during a four-point Milwaukee run to cut the lead to four. Another four-point brought the Panthers within two at 23-21, but the Waves secured the final two points to take the opening set by four.
 
The second set was a series of runs, with Milwaukee used a four-point stretch to tie the score at 18. After Pepperdine moved ahead 22-19, Milwaukee pulled even at 22 behind kills from Noble and Schuetz. After trading points to reach 24-all, the Waves notched a block and a kill to seal the set victory.
 
Early in the third set, the score was tied at two before a nine-point Pepperdine run proved too much for Milwaukee to overcome. A pair of kills by Carol Herrero and an ace from Milica Tomic helped the Panthers make a push back to 22-15, but Pepperdine once again closed strong, scoring the final three points to complete the straight-sets win.
 
Milwaukee wraps up the weekend, and non-conference play, on Sunday, taking on host Arizona State. First serve is slated for 3:00 p.m. (CT) in Tempe.