OAK CREEK, Wis. — Playing without starting middle hitter Annika Romine, the Milwaukee Area Technical College women's volleyball team leaned on its depth and home-court dominance to defeat Bay College 3-1 (31-29, 20-25, 25-16, 25-17) on Saturday. The Stormers improved to 5-0 at home and capped the night by honoring officials as part of AVCA Official Appreciation Day.

"I'm glad that we can win if we're over 25 [points], but we shouldn't be going to those numbers," MATC head coach Shel DeLisle said. "We should be starting off winning right away. We also had another injury to a player, and trying to find that lineup that works takes a couple sets. But hopefully we'll have everybody healthy by the end of the season—that's my goal. I'm glad we won."

The opening set featured 13 ties and no lead larger than three points until the final moments. MATC trailed for most of the frame, briefly holding a 4-3 edge early before rallying late. Outside hitter Rachel Krueger delivered a clutch kill to give the Stormers a 28-27 lead, and after a brief exchange of points, Allison Chapman and Krueger closed the set with back-to-back kills. Both teams struggled with attacking errors, with MATC hitting .158 on 14 kills and Bay College finishing at .102 with 10 kills.

"I knew we could pull it off," Krueger said of the comeback in set one. "We've come back plenty of times before and a couple weeks back we even came back from down like 24-20 and so I had full confidence."

Set two mirrored the first in intensity, with 15 ties and momentum swings throughout. Tied at 21-20, the Stormers faltered down the stretch, allowing Bay College to close on a 4-0 run capped by a service ace. MATC hit .222 in the frame, recording 11 kills on 27 attempts.

The third set proved pivotal. Tied at 14, the Stormers broke loose with a 4-0 run sparked by two Bay College errors, a Krueger kill, a Kendall Revolinski ace, and a kill from Natalia Farrugia. After a timeout, MATC surged again with a 7-2 run, highlighted by two Krueger kills and a block. The Stormers posted their most efficient offensive set of the night, hitting .478 with 13 kills on 28 swings.

Bay College jumped out to a 9-5 lead in the fourth, but MATC responded with a 5-0 burst fueled by three consecutive kills from Farrugia. The Stormers clawed back to tie the set at 10, 11 and 17 before closing on an emphatic 8-0 run. Kayleah Laughlin contributed two kills and a block assist during the final stretch, while the defense held Bay College to a .111 hitting percentage and just eight kills.

"I knew our energy was back up and as long as we kept our energy and we kept on doing our jobs that we'd be able to pull that set out kind of late," Krueger said of her team's 8-0 run to close things out.

Krueger was dominant at the net, finishing with a match-high 17.5 points. She recorded 14 kills, two solo blocks and a block assist to anchor MATC's attack.

Farrugia turned in a complete performance with 13.5 points, tallying eight kills on a .350 hitting percentage, four service aces and three block assists to keep Bay College off balance. Laughlin was a force in the middle, contributing 11.5 points on nine kills and five block assists while hitting .368. Revolinski added 10 points, including five kills, three aces and four block assists.

Freshman setter Grace Adams ran the offense with precision, dishing out 18 assists and collecting 13 digs. She also went 2-for-2 on attacks for a perfect 1.000 hitting percentage—clean, efficient and clutch.

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MATC (22-5) will host College of DuPage at 6 p.m. Wednesday for Youth Night and Cans Across the Conference Night.