Milwaukee Falls to Iowa State in First Round of NCAA Tournament

Iowa State claimed a hard-fought 25-19, 25-23, 25-23 win over the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in a NCAA Tournament First Round match Friday night at Hilton Coliseum.

The Panthers (25-5) put a major scare into the nation's number-four seed but could not pull off the upset. Milwaukee led much of the second set and had things tied up late in the third frame before the Cyclones (23-5) closed things out.

"We figured out a game plan and I think it was a pretty good one. We knew we were going to have to play next to perfection and frustrate them. We knew we had to take risks on our attack, but our defense and passing was really solid tonight," UWM head coach Susie Johnson said. "Getting that tough seed was very challenging and I can honestly say that is the best we have ever played in the NCAA Tournament. As much as I can't stand losing, I am so proud because of the fight."

Elizabeth Egerer had 10 kills to lead Milwaukee while Kerri Schuh and Julie Kolinske added seven kills apiece.

Morgan Potter led Milwaukee's defense with 11 digs and three other players had at least eight digs.

The second set saw UWM lead by as many as four points and have things tied at 23-apiece. The third set was tied at 20-apiece and Milwaukee was within a point after that before Iowa State finished things out.

Straube was the key performer for the Cyclones. She tallied her 15 kills without a hitting error and helped Iowa State overcome a quiet night from unanimous All-Big 12 performer Carly Jenson (nine kills, .179 hitting percentage). Straube also had the kills that decided the second and third sets.

"I have to say our team competed very well with Iowa State. That is obviously a very good team and they had to earn that win," Johnson said. "We did what we needed to do. It was hard because we didn't finish it out, and they were able to get those kills in the end."

The loss snapped the Panthers' school-record 18-match winning streak, giving Milwaukee its first loss since Sept. 13.

UWM hung tough in the first set but Iowa State never let the Panthers make a big run at the end. The Cyclones jumped out to early leads to 6-2 and 8-3 but Milwaukee rallied to pull within 9-7 on a kill by Kolinske. The ISU went to 16-8 after a run of Panther errors but UWM settled back down and crawled to within five at 20-15. A kill by Rachel Neuberger kept Milwaukee within 22-17 and another kill by Mackenzie Millis made it 24-19, but a kill from Kelsey Petersen wrapped things up for the Cyclones.

The Panthers led much of the way in the second set but Iowa State made a late surge to pull things out. Milwaukee built an 11-8 lead on a kill by Schuh and still led 14-11 on a Kolinske kill. The lead grew to 16-12 on an Iowa State error and was 19-15 after an ace by Potter. The Cyclones then used an 8-1 run to claim a 23-20 lead and seemed to be in control. But the Panthers would not go away, with kills from Millis and Schuh sandwiched around a solo block by Kolinske creating a 23-all tie. ISU had the final say, though, with a kill by Willms making it 24-23 before a kill by Straube after a long rally secured the win for the Cyclones.

UWM was again right in the middle of things in the third set. The Panthers had things tied at 10-apiece before falling down 14-11. But Milwaukee fought back to tie the frame at 19-apiece after two-straight kills by Egerer and again tied it at 20 on another Egerer kill. The Cyclones surged back ahead 23-20 but the Panthers were within 24-23 after a kill by Schuh. But Straube again had the final say, with her 15th kill of the night ending the match and sending the Cyclones on to the second round.

(Release courtesy of Kevin O'Connor, Milwaukee Athletics)