Milwaukee City Wire

The Milwaukee Panthers women's volleyball team was defeated by Marquette in three sets on Sunday afternoon. The match ended with scores of 25-17, 25-20, and 25-19 in favor of the Golden Eagles.

Natalie Schmitz led Milwaukee with 12 kills. Josie Johnson recorded 15 assists, while Milica Tomic added 11 assists to support the offense. Kati Goba contributed two service aces, and both Kara Erdmann and Sam Vanda had one ace each.

Defensively, Erdmann registered a team-high 11 digs, followed by Tomic with eight. Vanda and Josie Noble combined for two blocks for the Panthers.

"We had a much-improved and significant fight today against a strong Marquette team," said Susie Johnson. "Our team responded well today and was really competitive … I'm really proud of the fight we showed today."

Marquette established an early lead in the first set, going up 8-1 before extending their advantage to 19-8. Milwaukee narrowed the gap to six points at 23-17 after Goba's aces but could not close further as Marquette secured the set.

In the second set, Milwaukee trailed by just one point at 11-10 before Marquette went on a six-point run. The Panthers answered with a seven-to-two run late in the set but ultimately dropped it as Marquette closed out at 25-20.

The third set saw Milwaukee down by only one at 9-8 until another extended run from Marquette put them ahead. The Panthers managed to reduce the deficit after kills from Ella Schuetz, Bella Lipski, and Schmitz but were unable to overtake their opponents.

For Marquette, Natalie Ring led all players with 17 kills and hit .405 for the match. Adriana Studer served three aces and collected 15 digs. Hattie Bray finished with six kills and two blocks; Elena Radeff posted seven error-free kills on a .636 hitting percentage.

Milwaukee will next face DePaul University on Wednesday evening at home in their second consecutive matchup against a Big East opponent.