Milwaukee City Wire

The Milwaukee Panthers volleyball team concluded their season in the Horizon League semifinals, falling to Cleveland State in a tightly contested match at CJ McLin Gymnasium. Despite winning the first set 25-18, Milwaukee was unable to maintain their lead, losing the subsequent sets by narrow margins of 25-23, 25-23, and 27-25.

Head coach Susie Johnson expressed her disappointment after the match, stating, "This was an absolute heartbreaker for our team. We had to continue to counter what Cleveland State was doing throughout the match … we had to compete at the highest level in a very challenging match against a very strong opponent."

Madi Malone delivered a standout performance with 19 kills and a career-best 30 digs, marking her 52nd double-double. Kara Erdmann led with 34 digs and set single-season records for digs and digs per set. Josie Johnson also contributed with her 14th career double-double.

Coach Johnson praised her players' efforts: "Madi played incredibly well all evening long for us, as did Kara and Josie."

Milwaukee outperformed Cleveland State in kills but struggled with hitting errors. The Panthers committed 26 errors compared to Cleveland State's 18. Defensively, Milwaukee recorded 111 digs against CSU's offensive attempts.

The Panthers started strong with a .244 hitting percentage in the first set but faced challenges as Cleveland State improved their play. In the second set, CSU took an early lead that Milwaukee could not overcome despite closing the gap late in the set.

The third set saw intense competition with numerous tied scores and lead changes. Malone led Milwaukee with six kills but CSU narrowly won again. In the fourth set, Milwaukee initially led but couldn't hold off a late surge from Cleveland State.

Three Panthers recorded six kills each in the final set but were hindered by errors. Despite solid defensive efforts from Erdmann and Malone, CSU's minimal errors secured their victory.

Cleveland State ended with more blocks than Milwaukee while MKE held a slight edge in aces. Several players made notable contributions including Schmitz, Goba, Lewis, Scott, Beneby, Graves, Tomic, and Geurts.

Reflecting on their season-ending performance, Coach Johnson said: "Our six seniors should be very proud of ending their careers with such a well-fought match."

Milwaukee finished their season with a record of 20-12 overall and 15-3 in league matches. This marks consecutive seasons of achieving at least 20 wins for the first time since 2010 and 2011.