MILWAUKEE, Wis. — For two sets Wednesday night, Milwaukee Area Technical College women's volleyball looked every bit like a team ready to keep its perfect home record intact. Then the mistakes mounted, the momentum vanished and a dominant start turned into a bitter five-set collapse as Bryant & Stratton rallied past the Stormers 3-2 for MATC's first home loss of the season.

The Stormers won the opening two sets 25-13 and 25-22 before dropping the final three 16-25, 20-25 and 11-15. The loss dropped MATC to 9-6 overall and 4-1 at home.

"We had so many unforced errors tonight, which is something we have been seeing in matches and working on in practice, but seem to be unable to overcome," Stormers head coach Shel DeLisle said. "It's hard to feel like we have been beating ourselves when we lose. Hoping to get to a point where we can play more than two sets with intensity."

The Stormers opened the night with one of their sharpest sets of the year. Sophomore outside hitter Kayleah Laughlin dominated the frame, delivering seven of her team-high 14 kills as MATC controlled the pace with aggressive serving, clean passing and steady pressure at the net.

After a 5-5 tie, MATC broke the set open with an 11-2 run sparked by strong serves from freshman libero Aubrey Schwent at the service line, several Bobcat attack errors and a heavy dose of Laughlin swings. The Stormers closed out a convincing 25-13 win.

MATC carried that momentum into the second set, getting early kills from Ella Azbell, Olivia Graves, Natalia Farrugia and Onyx Burdette to build a slim lead. Bryant & Stratton rallied from a 13-9 deficit to force multiple ties and briefly move ahead 17-16, but MATC responded.

A block by freshman Dorothy Hoagland sparked an 8-3 closing run that included two aces, a Hoagland kill and two more late kills from Laughlin, securing a 25-22 win and a 2-0 match lead.

The match turned sharply in the third set. Bryant & Stratton took control behind relentless serving, piling up nine aces in the frame. MATC fell behind 3-0 and tied the set at 3-3 but never held a lead as the Bobcats surged ahead 12-5 and closed out a 25-16 win.

The fourth set was defined by miscues. MATC committed too many attack and service errors to sustain momentum, though the Stormers still forced 11 ties in the frame. Bryant & Stratton held a narrow 20-18 lead when MATC called timeout, and the Bobcats responded by closing the set on a 5-2 run to even the match at two sets apiece.

With the match on the line in the fifth, the teams traded points early, producing ties at 1, 2, 3 and 4. Bryant & Stratton created separation at 8-5, and although MATC pulled within 10-8 on a Farrugia kill, the Bobcats closed strong with a mix of tips and hard swings to win the set 15-11 and complete the comeback.

"Our passing is killing us," DeLisle said. "We spend over half of our practices doing passing and serving, and it is literally killing us. Every match we've lost has 100 percent come down to passing and unforced errors."

Laughlin paced the Stormers with 14 kills and added three solo blocks and one block assist, while Farrugia and Isabella Bloom each chipped in seven kills apiece.

Second-year setter Hope Martens posted a .667 hitting percentage on two dump kills and handed out 28 assists while adding 11 digs. Burdette added six assists and posted a .600 hitting percentage on four attacks.
Hoagland led MATC from the service line with four aces, while libero Azbell anchored the defense with a team-high 12 digs. Annika Romine added three kills.

UP NEXT

MATC (9-6) heads to Grayslake on Saturday for the Lancer Invitational. The Stormers open at noon against Danville Area Community College before facing College of Lake County at 2 p.m. and Spoon River College at 4 p.m.