Milwaukee City Wire

The Milwaukee Panthers women's volleyball team lost to the IU Indy Jaguars 3-1 on Friday evening in Indianapolis. Despite double-double performances from Ella Schuetz and Milica Tomic, the Panthers were unable to secure a win in the weekend opener.

Schuetz recorded her first career double-double with 13 kills and 15 digs, while Tomic contributed 18 assists and 10 digs for her first of the season and eleventh overall. Natalie Schmitz led Milwaukee with 14 kills, and Josie Noble added nine. Bella Lipski also had six kills along with four blocks as Milwaukee registered six total blocks at the net. Defensively, Kara Erdmann posted a team-high 24 digs, while Josie Johnson had 16 assists.

Milwaukee started strong in the first set, hitting .429 with just one error and securing a 25-17 victory. Schuetz and Lipski each contributed three kills during this opening stretch, while Noble added a service ace.

"Overall tonight was a really competitive match," head coach Susie Johnson said. "We started off strong and were executing our game plan well … but little by little they crept back in and put a lot of pressure on us."

IU Indy responded by winning the second set 25-18 as Milwaukee's hitting percentage dropped to .143 amid seven errors. The third set remained close before IU Indy edged out Milwaukee, 26-24, to take control of the match.

In the fourth set, IU Indy doubled up Milwaukee in kills (16-8) during a decisive run that turned a one-point deficit into a seven-point lead. The Jaguars won six of the last seven points to finish off the set at 25-16.

"We'll learn from tonight's effort and look to respond with a better result tomorrow," Johnson said.

Four IU Indy players reached double digits in kills, led by Jillian Tippmann who finished with 17 along with two aces and four blocks. Grace Purichia had 53 assists for IU Indy while Laura Roeder led their defense with 20 digs.

The teams are scheduled to meet again Saturday afternoon as Milwaukee looks to even the series against IU Indy.