The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's volleyball team continues the road portion of its 2014 season by heading to Michigan to participate in the Auto-Owners Insurance Spartan Invitational.

MILWAUKEE GAME NOTES

Scouting the Weekend
This weekend's field includes Western Kentucky, LIU Brooklyn and the host MSU Spartans in addition to Milwaukee. WKU is receiving votes in the AVCA national poll while Michigan State is currently ranked No. 25.MSU is coming off a split of the Big Ten/Pac-12 Challenge, falling to No. 18 Oregon and knocking off an Oregon State squad receiving votes in the poll, both four-set matches. MSU snapped a three-game skid with the Oregon State victory, handing the Beavers their first loss of the year.

LIU Brooklyn own a 7-3 overall record, and won its own invitational last week with victories over Fresno State, Northern Kentucky, Boston College and Temple. Senior Annika Foit and junior Nicole Okeke earned weekly conference honors, as Foit posted four double-double performances and Okeke had 22 total blocks over four games, averaging 1.22 blocks per set. Foit currently leads the NEC in kills per set (4.62 - also 19th in the nation) and points per set (4.96), while Okeke leads the conference in blocks/set (1.18) and hitting percentage (.339).

Riding a nine-game win streak into this weekend's matches, the WKU volleyball team (10-2) received votes in this week's American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Poll, notching 30 points to rank No. 28 in the country. Moving into the poll for the first time in the 2014, WKU has either received votes or ranked in the AVCA top 25 at least one time over each of the last four seasons.

Schedule With Some Muscle
The Panthers have played a very demanding schedule so far in 2014. In fact, if you add up the records of the teams that have defeated Milwaukee so far this season, you get an overall win-loss record of 40-19, a .677 winning percentage. Minnesota (7-1) was ranked #19 at the time (now #17), while Michigan State (5-3, No. 25 this week) is also ranked. WKU (10-2) continues to receive votes, as was Iowa State (5-3) when the two teams matched up.

Last Week
The Panthers went 0-3 at the Diet Coke Classic, once again playing very competitively against some formidable opponents before falling. In fact, UWM won the first set against #19 Minnesota. Junior Kayla Price was named to the all-tournament team after recording 102 assists in three matches over the weekend. She added five aces, four blocks and 13 digs.

Closing in on a Grand
Senior Julie Kolinske is set to become the 11th player to record over 1,000 kills in a career. She starts play this weekend at 980 and is currently averaging 4.18 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.

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.

Kolinske Off to a Fast Start
Senior Julie Kolinske was named the Horizon League Offensive Player of the Week Sept. 2. She earned MVP honors at the Pepsi Panther Invitational after hitting .408 and averaging 4.7 kills per set to pace the conference in the opening weekend. The Preseason Horizon League Offensive Player of the Year was at her best in UWM's five-set win over Miami (Ohio), registering career-highs in kills (26) and hitting percentage (.511). That topped her former career-best of 22 kills (set four times) and a .423 hitting percentage (13-26 vs. Cleveland State 10/18/13).

Welcome to Milwaukee
The Panthers are adding just a pair of newcomers to the roster in 2014 in Jess Kalous of Greenfield, Wis., and Mykie Olsen of East Troy, Wis. Greenfield High School standout Kalous is a 6-foot-1 middle blocker who claimed Woodland Conference player of the year honors in each of her last two seasons. She is also a three-time all-Woodland Conference honoree and has won team most valuable player honors in each of her four seasons. Olsen is East Troy's all-time career digs leader with 1,527 and also tallied 258 career aces. In her senior season, the 5-foot-6 libero collected 465 digs and 55 aces as her team went a perfect 44-0 en route to a state title. Both have seen court time in 2014. Olsen has started all seven matches and averaged 1.88 digs. Kalous has appeared in three sets and recorded two kills.

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 not only return home, but also open Horizon League play, hosting a pair of matches on the weekend. UWM welcomes UIC Friday at 7 p.m. and Valparaiso Saturday at 4 p.m.