Milwaukee City Wire

The Milwaukee volleyball team achieved a decisive victory against the Youngstown State Penguins, sweeping them in three straight sets on Friday night at the Klotsche Center. This win was led by Madi Malone, who recorded her 12th double-double of the season with 11 kills and 10 digs, contributing significantly to Milwaukee's offensive strength.

Head coach Susie Johnson praised the team's performance, stating, "We had a good game plan coming into tonight. We were efficient as a unit by making some smart decisions and just played very cohesively." The Panthers demonstrated this efficiency with 44 kills overall and a .283 hitting percentage for the match.

The match began with close scores in the first two sets, which ended at 25-21 and 25-23 in favor of Milwaukee. The third set saw a more commanding performance from the Panthers, who secured it with a score of 25-16.

Key contributions came from Milica Tomic and Josie Johnson, who combined for 33 assists out of the team's total of 41. Kara Erdmann also stood out defensively with 23 digs and two aces. The team's blocking effort improved throughout the match, culminating in four blocks during the final set.

Johnson commented on their defensive strategy: "We started communicating better. We were able to both score on the block and also used it to channel to our defense and get digs on the other attempts."

Youngstown State struggled against Milwaukee's defense, achieving only a .088 hitting percentage with 32 kills offset by 22 errors. Despite these challenges, Abbie Householder led her team with ten kills while Isabel Schaefbauer contributed 25 assists.

Both teams are scheduled to face each other again on Saturday afternoon at Klotsche Center.