MILWAUKEE, Wis. – Despite a hard fought match, the Cleveland State volleyball team dropped a three-set contest to league-leading Milwaukee Friday night, falling to 12-7 overall and 2-4 in Horizon League play this season.
Set scores against Milwaukee were 20-25, 22-25, 22-25.
The Vikings battled in all three sets against the Panthers, holding off a combined four set-points throughout all three frames. Two of these came during the opening frame, when CSU battled back from an eight-point deficit (12-20) to come within four points at the end of the set before Milwaukee was finally able to put the frame away. During this span the Vikings had a streak of three-straight points when CSU capitalized on a trio of Panther errors. After Milwaukee earned a set point at 24-19, Katie Nesbitt tallied her second kill of the match to hold off the Panthers, but Milwaukee would close the set on the following point, earning the 25-20 victory.
During the second set, CSU was able to gain control of play and hold an advantage for the first half of the frame, until Milwaukee battled its way back and regained control at the 19-18 mark. The Vikings were able to hold a six-point advantage multiple times throughout the first half of the frame, but the Panther offense would prove to be too much, as they posted six of the final 10 points after gaining their first lead of the frame for the 25-22 set win.
The third set was much like the first, as Milwaukee controlled play throughout the majority of the frame. The Panthers held an advantage for the entire frame, but the Vikings stayed close, keeping the score within four points for the whole set. CSU was able to come within one point of the Panthers at the 21-22 and 22-23 marks with a pair of Grace Kauth kills, but Milwaukee responded with two straight points to close out the match with the 25-22 third set victory.
Kauth had a team-high nine kills for the Vikings, while Christina Toth tallied eight and Kelly Kiger had seven. Nikki Holmes recorded 10 digs against the Panthers, while Nesbitt and Aaliyah Slappy each tallied a pair of blocks.
The Vikings will continue Horizon League play tomorrow (Saturday, Oct. 19), traveling to Green Bay for a 5:00 p.m. EST contest.
