Indianapolis – The Butler women's volleyball team fell in three sets to Milwaukee (20-25, 20-25, 16-26) to open the Bulldog Brawl. The Panthers (5-5) used double-digit kills from Abby Koenen (11), Carmen Heilemann (10) and Ari Miller (10) to take down the Bulldogs (6-5), who will host No. 19 UCLA on Friday night at 6 p.m.

Set 1: Milwaukee 25-20
Butler got out to a 10-8 lead thanks to two kills by Amina Shackelford in a back-and-forth stretch early. Milwaukee rallied back to take a lead, but a Brittany Robinson kill tied it at 19. The Panthers would roll from there with two kills by Koenen to help clinch the opening frame. Shackelford led the Bulldogs in the set with four kills.

Set 2: Milwaukee 25-20
Robinson's back-to-back kills helped the Bulldogs build a 4-1 lead early, but the Panthers quickly bounced back to take the lead at 9-7 and eventually got advantage to as much as six at 21-15. Consecutive kills by Melody Davidson followed by an ace from Jillian Ziemba pulled Butler within three at 23-20, but two kills from Milwaukee finished the set. Davidson led the Butler with four kills in the second set.

Set 3: Milwaukee 25-16
The Panthers started fast with three kills from Heilemann for a 6-1 early advantage. A later ace served by Madison Friebel followed by a kill from Shackelford got the Bulldogs within one at 11-10, but Milwaukee quickly extended the lead as it got to as much as nine points at 22-13 and 23-14. Davidson and Shackelford contributed two kills each in the set, while Friebel had the ace and a kill.

Stat of the Match
Milwaukee hit a cool .318 as a team while limiting Butler to a hitting percentage of .079.

Inside the Box Score
-Davidson accumulated 11 points on nine kills and four block assists.
-Shackelford finished second on the team in both points (9.5) and kills (eight) while adding three block assists and two digs.
-Friebel stuffed the stat sheet with 27 assists, eight digs, a kill, an ace and a block assist.
-Jaymeson Kinley contributed 14 digs, two assists and one kill.

Up Next
Butler returns to Hinkle Fieldhouse Friday night at 6 p.m. to face No. 19 UCLA – the first ranked opponent of the season for the Bulldogs.