Milwaukee and Cleveland State to Meet in Volleyball Championship Match

The top two teams in the regular season have also shown to be the top two teams in the conference tournament as Milwaukee and Cleveland State both won on Saturday to advance to the championship match.

Top-seeded Milwaukee defeated Valparaiso, 3-0, and Cleveland State battled from behind to defeat Butler, 3-2. The championship match begins Sunday at 2 p.m. ET.

#1 Milwaukee 3, #4 Valparaiso 0 (25-21, 28-26, 25-17)

Milwaukee rode its stifling defense to a school-record 17^th consecutive win on Saturday afternoon as the top-seeded Panthers swept Valparaiso to advance to the championship match of the Horizon League tournament.

For the match, Milwaukee held Valparaiso to a .087 hitting percentage behind 70 digs and 10 blocks. Four different Panther players had double figures in digs, led by senior All-League member Monica Potter with 18.

Valparaiso started the match as the aggressor as the Crusaders jumped out to a 7-1 lead, but the Panthers clawed their way back into the set, tying the match at 12, before winning the opening frame 25-21.

The second set was close throughout with both teams having set point at one time. Milwaukee built a 24-20 lead, but Valparaiso won five straight points and had two opportunities to win the set before Milwaukee was able to come back and capture the second set, 28-26, for a commanding 2-0 lead.

The Panthers never trailed in the third set, building an early lead and never allowing Valparaiso any momentum to win the set going away 25-17.

Elizabeth Egerer led Milwaukee with 12 kills, while Rachel Neuberger contributed 10 kills on a team-high .348 hitting percentage.

Mary Dent led Valparaiso with 10 kills, while Horizon League Defensive Player of the Year Taylor Root had a match-high 21 digs.

#2 Cleveland State 3, #3 Butler 2 (25-22, 18-25, 15-25, 25-13, 16-14)

Cleveland State battled back from a 2-1 set deficit to defeat the red-hot Butler Bulldogs, 3-2 to advance to the conference championship match.

The Vikings won the fifth set despite falling behind 7-3 and then 14-12 in the final frame. CSU stopped two Butler match points and then capitalized on its first match point opportunity to win the match.

Junior All-League member Kara Koch had 10 kills in the fifth set, and 34 for the match, as she set a new single-match Horizon League championship record for kills. The previous record was 30 held by two different players.

Cleveland State won a tight first set, 25-22. Koch had six kills in the opening frame, while Amy Grabiec had 11 digs to lead the Vikings.

Butler battled back from the first set disappointment to win the second and third sets. Freshman Belle Obert, a member of the All-Newcomer team, had six kills in the second set to lead the Bulldogs, and senior Maureen Bamiro had nine kills in the third set as the Bulldogs won 25-15. Butler hit a fantastic .625 in the third set, striking 16 kills with only one attack error in 24 attempts.

CSU forced the fifth set with a dominating fourth set, holding Butler to a .029 hitting percentage.