The Milwaukee volleyball team took on visiting Cleveland State in a hard-fought match on Friday at the Klotsche Center, but were unable to come out in front. The Panthers pounced on a win in the first game, but couldn’t keep ahead in the three preceding matchups. Game scores were, in order; 25-18, 20-25, 21-25, 15-25. All three games were very close in competition and in score and Milwaukee did not go down without a fight.
The biggest challenge in playing against Cleveland State was their skilled placement of tips and hits, working Milwaukee’s coverage and testing their ability to reach those less populated areas of the court. And although Cleveland State had a good offense going for them, the Panthers’ offensive attacks were more equally spread between all of the front row, evidently showing their strength and teamwork on the front line.
Kylie Wilks led the Panthers with 16 kills on the night, with Jess Kalous closely following at 15. Both Jess Kalous and Louise Kiekhofer added 3 blocks over the Vikings. Milwaukee had a total of 56 kills and six blocks in all four games of the match. Jenn Dore also set her hitters up with an impressive 45 assists.
As for Cleveland State, the main sources of points were from Mariah Carrero-Johnson with 11 kills and Trinniti Hall with 12 kills. Hall also contributed four blocks against the Panthers. The Vikings altogether totaled 58 kills and eight blocks. Gina Kilner worked hard to give her team 53 assists on the night.
Although the Panthers held their own and were extremely close to the number of kills that the Vikings achieved, most of their points were lost elsewhere between miscommunication, missed serves, and net violations.
Milwaukee’s updated record is now 7-8, while Cleveland State hit 8-4.
Two-time defending league champs Cleveland State left the Panther gym with another win, but Milwaukee is ready to go and will see Oakland on Saturday at 4 p.m. in the Klotsche Center.