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2
Bradley BRAD 0-1
3
Winner Milwaukee UWM 1-0
Bradley BRAD
0-1
2
Final
3
Milwaukee UWM
1-0
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 5 F
Bradley BRAD 25 25 13 22 11 (2)
Milwaukee UWM 18 22 25 25 15 (3)
Kelsey Cave
Ricky Bassman

Volleyball Falls In Five At Milwaukee

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Game Recap: Volleyball |
MILWAUKEE, Wis. -- Senior Kelsey Cave (Solon, Iowa/Solon) had career highs of 18 kills and eight blocks to help Bradley to its highest block total in almost five years, but Milwaukee rallied from two sets down to top the Braves 18-25, 22-25, 25-13, 25-22, 15-11 Friday afternoon to open the Pepsi Panther Invitational.
 
Cave and sophomore Erica Haslag (Jefferson City, Mo./Helias Catholic) paced Bradley (0-1 overall) offensively with the duo combining for 31 of the team's 55 kills and seven total blocks. 
 
In the opening set, the Braves hit .290 as a team with Haslag and Cave both notching five kills as Bradley went on to take the opener 25-18.  Milwaukee (1-0 overall) pulled even at 16-16, before a UWM attack error opened a 4-0 spurt for the Braves.  Cave followed with a block and added a kill and another block down the stretch to help Bradley take the opening frame. 
 
The Braves led by as many as six points (18-12) in the second set, before the Panthers rallied to pull within two at 22-20.  Cave made it a three-point edge with a kill and kills by junior Taylor Thiele (Aurora, Neb./Aurora) and Haslag capped a 25-22 Bradley victory in the second. 
 
Milwaukee had just one hitting error in the third set and attacked at a .467 clip in the frame to cruise to a 25-13 win and force a fourth set. 
 
The fourth set featured 12 ties and six lead changes before Milwaukee grabbed a late lead.  Bradley battled from behind most of the stanza, but held a 21-20 edge after a Thiele kill.  With the score knotted at 22-22, back-to-back errors by the Braves gave the Panthers a 24-22 advantage and Jess Kalous closed out a 25-22 UWM win with her fourth kill of the set. 
 
Cave matched her previous career high kill total of 15 in the first four sets and added three more midway through the fifth to tie the score at 8-8.  Milwaukee's Caitlin Schultz had a pair of kills during a 4-0 UWM spurt, however, to give the Panthers a 12-8 lead.  Bradley later fought off a pair of match points, with Haslag notching her 13th kill of the day and serving up her second ace of the contest to make it 14-11 in favor of UWM.  The Panthers came up with a block on the next play to close out the fifth 15-11 and complete the rally. 
 
In addition to tallying team and career highs of 18 kills and eight digs, Cave attacked at a .441 clip to lead Bradley's offensive efforts.  Haslag had 13 kills to go with career highs of 18 digs and six blocks for her fourth career double-double, while sophomore Abby Ihrke (Eden Prairie, Minn./Eden Prairie) tied for match high honors with 19 digs in her first outing as the libero for the Braves. 
 
A pair of freshmen were in the Bradley starting lineup, with freshman setter Erin Olson (Cary, Ill./Cary-Grove) collecting four kills, 49 assists, seven digs and four blocks in her debut.  Freshman middle blocker Kathryn Graf (Edina, Minn./Edina) also started the season opener and finished with six kills and seven blocks.  Graf's seven blocks helped the Braves to their highest block total in a match since Oct. 15, 2011. 
 
Schultz led Milwaukee with 20 kills and Kalous was also in double figures with 15 kills in addition to her team-best seven blocks.  Setter Jenn Dore tied Ihrke for match-high honors with 19 digs to go with her 53 assists. 
 
Bradley continues play at the Pepsi Panther Invitational later today with a 5:30 p.m. matchup against Western Illinois in Milwaukee, Wis. 
 
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Players Mentioned

Kelsey Cave

#6 Kelsey Cave

MB
6' 2"
Senior
Kathryn Graf

#12 Kathryn Graf

MB
6' 2"
Freshman
Erica Haslag

#3 Erica Haslag

OH
5' 11"
Sophomore
Abby Ihrke

#7 Abby Ihrke

DS/LIBERO
5' 7"
Sophomore
Erin Olson

#2 Erin Olson

S
5' 9"
Freshman
Taylor Thiele

#13 Taylor Thiele

OH
5' 11"
Junior

Players Mentioned

Kelsey Cave

#6 Kelsey Cave

6' 2"
Senior
MB
Kathryn Graf

#12 Kathryn Graf

6' 2"
Freshman
MB
Erica Haslag

#3 Erica Haslag

5' 11"
Sophomore
OH
Abby Ihrke

#7 Abby Ihrke

5' 7"
Sophomore
DS/LIBERO
Erin Olson

#2 Erin Olson

5' 9"
Freshman
S
Taylor Thiele

#13 Taylor Thiele

5' 11"
Junior
OH