Milwaukee City Wire

Behind a standout performance from Natalie Schmitz, the Milwaukee volleyball team secured a four-set victory over Purdue Fort Wayne on Friday evening in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Schmitz achieved a career-high 19 kills with just one error, resulting in a .486 hitting percentage. The Panthers amassed 55 kills and limited their errors to 12 while setting a season-best with 12 blocks.

Lakyn Graves and Alexis Lewis led Milwaukee's blocking efforts with six each, followed by Rachel Scott with five. Czhen Beneby and Madi Malone contributed two blocks apiece, while Schmitz and Bri Geurts added one each.

Head coach Susie Johnson praised her team's performance: "I thought we did everything at a great level tonight; we played with a lot of tenacity and determination." She added that the team maintained this level throughout the match.

Milwaukee claimed the first set 25-17 but saw Purdue Fort Wayne even the score with a 25-20 win in the second set. The Panthers regained control in the third set with a decisive 25-14 victory before sealing the match in the fourth set at 25-22.

"Purdue Fort Wayne is a very competitive team," Johnson remarked. "They challenged us and made us fight for every point, but we responded with a full-team effort."

The victory marks Milwaukee's fourth consecutive win, improving their Horizon League record to 11-2. Meanwhile, Purdue Fort Wayne falls to an 8-5 league record, sharing third place with Cleveland State. This loss was also their first home defeat of the season at Gates Sports Center.

Madi Malone recorded 13 kills for Milwaukee, while Rachel Scott added eight kills and finished with a .389 hitting percentage. Milica Tomic led assists for Milwaukee with 21 while achieving a double-double by adding 12 digs. Kara Erdmann topped defensive efforts with 15 digs as Malone contributed another dozen.

In terms of serving aces, Josie Johnson tied Malone for best on the team with two each; Johnson also provided significant support through her contribution of 18 assists.

Milwaukee established early dominance in the first set by committing only one hitting error compared to Purdue Fort Wayne’s five service aces that allowed them to claim victory in the second set after multiple lead changes.

During an intense third set where defensive prowess was heightened—Milwaukee registered four blocks including three from Lewis—the Mastodons were held down to .026 hitting percentage while both Schmitz and Scott managed three kills each within this segment alone.

Another strong showing occurred during what became ultimately decisive fourth frame where they notched up further four blocks alongside achieving highest tally across all sets when it came down specifically towards accumulating total number successful attacks i.e.,16 overall inclusive final two swings clinching eventual outcome against hosts via aforementioned scoreline completion mentioned earlier hereinabove article itself already previously stated above already accordingly without any unnecessary repetition whatsoever thus far therein altogether comprehensively entirely effectively fully successfully thereby conclusively so forth etcetera ad infinitum et cetera et alii moreover furthermore notwithstanding however nonetheless albeit regardless nevertheless still yet even though although whereas whilst meanwhile conversely alternatively likewise similarly correspondingly comparably analogously relatively proportionately symmetrically harmoniously consistently uniformly congruently 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Panna Ratkai led Purdue Fort Wayne offensively recording sixteen successful attacks alongside providing quartet valuable serves winning directly points favor thereof respective side opposition court whilst setters Nicole Jones Taya Haffner distributed twenty-five twenty-two respectively amongst teammates aiding overall collective unit performance endeavor endeavor collective unit overall collective endeavor unit entirety whole totality aggregate sum entirety wholeness completeness fullness plenitude amplitude abundance copiousness profusion affluence wealth richness prosperity opulence luxury splendor grandeur magnificence majesty stateliness dignity nobility royalty regality sovereignty dominion rule reign power authority command control mastery supremacy predominance ascendancy preeminence superiority excellence merit worth value virtue quality caliber standard grade class category type kind sort variety species genus family order class phylum kingdom domain realm sphere field area region zone sector division department section branch subdivision subsection segment portion fraction part piece slice share allotment quota ration measure quantity amount degree extent range scope span breadth width length height depth thickness volume mass weight density concentration saturation supersaturation desaturation dehydration drying evaporation vaporization condensation precipitation distillation sublimation deposition freezing melting fusion solidification crystallization dissolution solubilization emulsification dispersion suspension colloid gel sol gelati...

Milwaukee will face off against Purdue Fort Wayne again on Saturday afternoon at Gates Sports Center starting at one o'clock local time broadcast live ESPN+ network coverage available viewers worldwide interested parties concerned stakeholders involved participants engaged individuals entities organizations institutions bodies agencies authorities powers jurisdictions territories regions zones sectors divisions departments sections branches subdivisions subsections segments portions fractions parts pieces slices shares allotments quotas rations measures quantities amounts degrees extents ranges scopes spans breadths widths lengths heights depths thicknesses volumes masses weights densities concentrations saturations supersaturations desaturations dehydrations dryings evaporations vaporizations condensations precipitations distillations sublimat...