MILWAUKEE, Wisc. — The Oakland University women's volleyball program dropped a three-set decision (20-25, 29-31, 20-25) to the Milwaukee Panthers Monday night inside the Klotsche Center. The Golden Grizzlies fell to 5-8 in Horizon League play with the loss, while the Panthers improved to 5-6 overall. 

The Oakland attack was limited to 35 kills at a .181 hitting percentage. Freshman outside hitter Patti Cesarini led the Golden Grizzlies with a team-high nine kills at a .276 hitting clip. She added three digs and two blocks. Freshman middle blocker Anna Nie matched a career-high with seven kills at a team-best .429 hitting percentage, while Brittany Welch totaled seven kills, five digs, and two blocks. AnnaBelle Tomei and Madison Ross paced the OU setters with assist totals of 17 and 16, respectively. 

Defensively, Lindsay Wightman tallied a match-high 18 digs. Katelyn Johnson and Ross tied for second on the team with seven digs apiece. The Golden Grizzlies impressed against the Panther attack with 9.0 blocks, led by Kerra Cornist with a match-high four rejections. Nie, Cesarini, and Jamie Walling each totaled two-plus blocks as well. 

MKE jumped out to a 12-6 lead in the opening set, which was too much for Oakland to overcome. The Golden Grizzlies inched within three, 20-17, following a kill by Cesarini, but the Panthers outscored OU 5-3 the rest of the way to come out on top, 25-20. 

The Golden Grizzlies held a 21-16 advantage in set two, but Milwaukee rallied back to even the score at 24-all. Both teams went back and forth over the ensuing possessions with the Panthers managing to escape with a 31-29 set victory. In total, the set featured 12 ties and six lead changes. 

OU built a 12-9 lead in the third set following a kill by Nie. However, MKE responded with a 7-4 run to even the score at 16-all. A service error by the Golden Grizzlies gave the Panthers an 18-17 advantage. The lead was never relinquished, resulting in a match-deciding 25-20 set win for Milwaukee. 

The Golden Grizzlies are back in action tomorrow against Milwaukee for the second match of the season series. First serve is set for 3 p.m. ET.