Milwaukee City Wire

The Milwaukee Panthers women's volleyball team was defeated by James Madison University on Friday at the Al McGuire Center. After taking the first set, Milwaukee lost the next three sets to the Dukes.

Josie Noble led Milwaukee with 12 kills and a .500 hitting percentage. Josie Johnson contributed a season-high 25 assists. On defense, Kara Erdmann recorded 22 digs, helping the Panthers tie their season-best with 53 digs overall. The team also registered eight blocks, which was three short of their season high set against South Alabama last weekend.

James Madison's offense was led by Kennedy Louisell and Ana Toumazatos, each tallying 17 kills. JMU setters Grace Wenrich and Rebecca Watkins combined for 51 assists out of the team's total of 59.

Milwaukee started strong in the opening set with 17 kills and three blocks, winning it 25-23. Bella Lipski participated in all three blocks during that set. In the second set, despite only two attacking errors and connecting on 14 kills, Milwaukee fell short as James Madison put down 19 kills and defended with 22 digs compared to Milwaukee's 17.

The third and fourth sets saw Milwaukee struggle offensively, committing a total of 18 attacking errors while hitting just .014 as James Madison secured wins of 25-14 and 25-15 to take the match.

"Today was another opportunity for us to get better," head coach Susie Johnson said after the match. "Our team needs to continue to use these opportunities to compete throughout the entirety of the match."

Milwaukee is scheduled to play Ball State on Saturday afternoon at home as part of the Marquette Tournament.