The 3rd Man In

Milwaukee Panthers Women’s Sports Roundup

October is almost over, and unfortunately that means the fall athletic season is starting to come to a close. Volleyball still has a little over three weeks left in the regular season, but the women’s soccer team will be finishing up their season this upcoming week. Before looking ahead to the remainder of the season, here is how these two talented teams performed this past week.

With the season windy down the women’s soccer team hit the road to face the challenging Valparaiso Crusaders on Wednesday evening. Milwaukee entered the match with a lot of fight and energy, but they were unsuccessful at snapping Valparaiso’s 13-game unbeaten streak, falling 1-0.

Although, Milwaukee dominated the possession throughout the game, they had no answer for beating the nation’s seventh-best defense, recording only three shots throughout the 90 minutes of play.

In the 51st minute, it looked like the Panthers where able to beat the difficult defense, as Vienna Behnke sent a shot into the goal off of a corner kick. But, the goal didn’t stand, as Milwaukee was called for a foul.

Everyone knew this was going to be a challenging game against the Horizon League’s top team. Unfortunately, the Panthers were unable to register very many opportunities in the final third, and that was the difference in this match.

Milwaukee will look to end their season on a high note, as they will play their final game of the 2014 season on Friday afternoon against the Detroit Titans on the road.

The volleyball team also had a competitive week on the road, playing two matches on Friday and Saturday against the Crusaders and the UIC Flames.

On Friday night against the Crusaders, the Panthers brought their A-game, earning an incredible 3-1 (25-21, 19-25, 26-24, 25-22) victory over a talented Valparaiso squad.

Myanna Ruiz had an outstanding game, registering a double-double with a career high 24 kills along with 17 digs. Kayla Price also had a double-double of her own, recording 15 digs and 55 assist.

Julie Kolinske and Maggie Dunbar were also forces up front, each adding 16 kills. Defensively, Taylor Golabowski had a team-high 24 digs, while Maddie Schmitz had a career best 15 digs.

This was a huge win for Milwaukee on the road against Valparaiso, and an excellent way to start off the second half of the conference schedule. Following this match, the Panthers then traveled to Chicago, Ill. to face the Flames on Saturday afternoon.

The Panthers picked up right where they left off on Friday, sweeping the Flames in three-straight sets (25-18, 29-27, 25-21). The Flames made the Panthers work, but Milwaukee executed very well and never backed down.

Price had another big match, finishing with a team-high 31 assists. Kolinske led the team with 11 kills, while Dunbar was right behind with 10. Golabowski also had 15 digs, while Ruiz came up just short of another double-double with nine kills and nine digs.

It is always challenging having to play back-to-back matches on the road, but the Panthers were prepared and played extremely well. With these two victories, the Panthers kept pace with the Oakland Golden Grizzlies for first place in the league standings.

The volleyball squad will also only have one match this week, heading just north to play the Green Bay Phoenix on Halloween.

It is hard to believe the women’s soccer season will come to a close this week. It seems like the season just began, but hopefully they can end their season with a victory against Detroit. The volleyball team still has some time left in their season, and they are in a great position to at least win a share of the regular season title.

Although each team only has one match this week, they will not be easy, as their opponents are going to be extremely motivated to pick up wins against talented competition at home. It is going to be another exciting week for Panther athletics, and hopefully both programs can pick up a victory this week.

Stay tuned next week for the tenth edition of the Milwaukee Panthers Women’s Sports Roundup to be up to date on everything happening with these two successful programs.

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