Game 16 | Green Bay (2-11, 0-2) at Milwaukee (7-8, 2-0)
Date	Friday, October 3 | 7 p.m.
Location	Milwaukee, Wis. | Klotsche Center
Live Stats	Live Stats
Media	Watch Live | Twitter Updates

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's volleyball team gets a break in the schedule, playing just one game this week when it hosts Green Bay at the Klotsche Center Friday. Match time is set for 7 p.m.

-UWM GAME NOTES

The match-up will have a live broadcast on the Horizon League Network as well as Sidearm live statistics. In addition, the team is celebrating Alumni and Family Night Friday. Alums and families are invited to a pre-match reception in the Klotsche Center, with complimentary food and drink available. The reception runs from 5:30-7 p.m. and the volleyball program will also be honoring all alumni in attendance, recognizing them between the second and third sets of the match. For more information or to RSVP, contact Greg Blohowiak at blohowi3@uwm.edu.

Scouting the Weekend
The Phoenix will enter at 2-11, having dropped five in a row and six of eight after getting off to an 0-2 start in Horizon League play last weekend, falling to UIC and Valparaiso in straight sets. Taylor Kasal leads Green Bay with 2.74 kills/set, but is hitting just .104 on the season. Jillian Bauer paces the Phoenix in the back row with 4.5 digs/set.

Schedule With Some Muscle
The Panthers played a very demanding non-conference schedule in front of the start of league play in 2014. Minnesota was ranked #19 at the time, while Michigan State (No. 25) was also ranked. WKU continues to receive votes, as was Iowa State when the two teams matched up.

Last Week
The Panthers had an impressive weekend at home, opening Horizon League play with a 2-0 slate after topping UIC, 3-1, before knocking off Valparaiso, 3-2. The victory over the Crusaders snapped their 13-game winning streak.

League Honors
Sophomore Myanna Ruiz and senior Taylor Golabowski were named the Horizon League Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week. Ruiz earned Offensive Player of the Week honors after stepping up with Kayla Price out of the lineup. Ruiz opened the weekend with 15 kills on a .321 hitting percentage and 33 assists in UWM's 3-1 win over UIC. On Saturday, she recorded her second triple-double of the season with 17 kills, 25 assists and 15 digs as the Panthers ended Valparaiso's 13-match win streak with a 3-2 win. Ruiz entered the weekend with 39 assists in 13 matches this season, but had 58 in the two matches as she guided the Panther offense with the normal setter Price out of the lineup. Ruiz is the only player in the league to record a triple-double this season.

Golabowski led UWM's defensive charge on the weekend. She had 20 digs and four aces in UWM's 3-1 win over the Flames. She followed that up with a match-high 23 digs and seven assists in the win over the Crusaders as the Panthers held the league's top-hitting team to its third-lowest hitting percentage of the season.

Triple-Double Encore
Sophomore Myanna Ruiz became the ninth player in program history to record a triple-double Sept. 19, putting up an impressive line of 11 kills, 17 assists and 10 digs in the win over LIU Brooklyn. It marked the first Milwaukee triple-double since Kerri Schuh in 2010.

She one-upped that performance just eight days later with a statline of 17 kills, 25 assists and 15 digs to become just the fourth player with multiple triple-doubles in a UWM career.

Pounding Out Some Season-Highs
The Panthers got numerous contributions in their 2-0 start to league play, including several that marked season and/or career-highs for individual players in the match against UIC Sept. 26. Junior Maggie Dunbar finished one kill away from a career-high, leading the way with 16 on a stellar .517 hitting percentage (1 error/29 attacks). Junior Nicole Latzig also got in on the action with eight kills on a career-best .583 hitting percentage. Lastly, sophomore Kaisa Mattson paced the effort at the net with a career-high 10 blocks.

That Makes it a Grand
Senior Julie Kolinske became the 11th player to record over 1,000 kills in a career. She now sits at 1,037 and is currently averaging 3.82 per set. She will climb up the Top 10 the rest of the way, with a move into the top five (currently 1,213) in her sights.

More Grand Stats
Senior Taylor Golabowski is the next player to be reaching a milestone, as she sits at 981 career digs heading into the match against Green Bay. She would become the 11th player in program history to reach the mark.

Price one of a Unique Trio
Just a junior, Kayla Price moved into rare territory over the course of play at the Wynn Invitational when she climbed over the 3,000 career assists mark. That makes her just one of three UWM players all-time to reach that status. Lindsey Spoden (No. 2 at 5,233) and Katie Schroeder (No. 1 at 5,276) remain the only players above her on the career list.

Preseason Honors
Julie Kolinske has been named the Horizon League's Preseason Offensive Player of the Year while Kayla Price was also named to the preseason all-league team. The full preseason honors list was voted on by the league's coaches.

Kolinske was an All-League honoree last season after helping lead the Panthers to the Horizon League title. The outside hitter reached double-figures in kills 20 times, including a pair of 20-plus outings, while accumulating 343 kills on the season to lead the Horizon League. She had 31 kills in Milwaukee's two tournament wins as she was named to the All-Tournament team.

2013 Year in Review
The Panthers once again posted another successful season in 2013, bouncing back to claim both the Horizon League regular-season and tournament championships.

Back to the Big Dance
The Panthers took advantage of their homecourt and avenged their only regular-season league losses by beating Cleveland State and Valparaiso to claim the 2013 Horizon League Tournament title, advancing to the NCAA Tournament for the 10th time in school history.

About that Regular Season
The Panthers claimed their ninth Horizon League regular-season title in the last 11 years with another strong run through the regular season. It marked quite a turnaround from the previous season, when Milwaukee posted an uncharacteristic 4-10 mark and didn't even qualify for the league tournament. This year marks the fifth regular-season league title in seven seasons under Susie Johnson, who is now 96-25 against league competition as a head coach. In all, Milwaukee has now won 13 league regular-season crowns.

The Awards List
Five Panthers were honored by the Horizon League when the postseason awards were announced at the end of the regular season. Rachel Neuberger claimed league player of the year honors and was joined on the all-league team by Julie Kolinske and Kayla Price. Plus, Susie Johnson was named the league coach of the year and Myanna Ruiz captured a spot on the all-freshman team.

Nice Numbers
UWM was statistically dominant in its 14 league matches. Milwaukee led the league in hitting percentage, kills and assists while standing second in both digs and opponent hitting percentage. Plus, the Panthers finished third in blocks in league-only matches. The team tallied a stellar 15.1-11.8 advantage in kills per set and a .275-.167 edge in team hitting percentage. Individually, Julie Kolinske led the league in kills, with Rachel Neuberger right behind her. As a team, Milwaukee hit .300 or better seven times in 14 league matches.

Many People Involved
One of the great strengths of the 2013 Panthers was the depth and wide variety of players that stepped up. Eight different players recorded at least one double-figure kill outing last season and six players had a season total of at least 100 kills. Defensively, six different players had at least one double-figure dig outing and four players had at least 200 digs last season. Plus, on the blocks front, four players had at least 50 blocks. The Milwaukee rotation certainly developed and changed throughout the year. Nicole Latzig and Kaisa Mattson both spent time as the second middle alongside Rachel Neuberger while Maggie Dunbar, Hannah Blanchard, Myanna Ruiz and Sammi Herron all worked at either the outside or right side throughout the year alongside Julie Kolinske.

Summing Up the Non-League
Milwaukee knew it would be facing plenty of challenges during the non-league portion of its schedule. UWM wound up squaring off with five teams that were in the 2014 NCAA Tournament, including national seeds Florida, Kansas and Wisconsin. When the Panthers met the then-#4 Gators in September, they were the highest ranked opponent ever for UWM. In all, Milwaukee played three teams from the Big Ten, going to five sets with both Northwestern and Iowa, and played a pair of Big XII foes in Oklahoma and Kansas. In all, the Panthers played five teams in the top 25 of the RPI.

Back on the Top of the Hill
A year after climbing back to the top of the standings and returning to the NCAA Tournament, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee volleyball team has once again been picked by league coaches to take first place in the upcoming Horizon League regular season. The Panthers tallied six first-place votes and 47 points in the coaches' poll to claim the top spot. Valparaiso (second place overall with 39 points) and Oakland (third, 37) each collected one of the remaining two first-place votes.

Always Being Tested
UWM is facing another challenging non-league schedule in 2014, highlighted by five matches against teams that played in the NCAA Tournament a year ago and 10 total contests versus squads that won at least 20 games last season. The team will play Michigan State, Minnesota, Iowa State, LIU Brooklyn and Marquette - five different teams that earned their way into the NCAA Tournament in 2013.

Up Next
The Panthers continue Horizon League action with a weekend road trip to Ohio, taking on Cleveland State Friday and Youngstown State Saturday.