Volleyball Hosts Oakland Tuesday To Start Busy Week

Panthers to play four matches in next seven days

MILWAUKEE - After just one match on last week's schedule, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee will play four matches this week, all in the city of Milwaukee. The Panthers host three league matches from the Klotsche Center, starting Tuesday at 7 p.m. against Oakland before weekend contests against Youngstown State and Cleveland State. Then, UWM will make the short drive to the Al McGuire Center to take on Marquette Monday on TWC SportsChannel.

Panther Points
• Milwaukee has once again earned high praise from fellow league coaches in the preseason poll. The Panthers were picked to finish second in this year's preseason Horizon League poll, earning one first-place vote.

• Senior Kayla Price was named preseason All-Horizon League again this year. This marks the fourth-straight season Price has been honored in the preseason.

• UWM finished second in the Horizon League standings last year in both the regular season and in the league tournament. That marked the 16th time in the last 18 seasons Milwaukee finished in the top-two in the league standings.

• The Week Ahead
The next seven days will be mighty busy for UWM. Milwaukee starts the week by hosting Oakland on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. before Friday and Saturday contests against Youngstown State and Cleveland State - both also at the Klotsche Center. Then, the Panthers will make the short drive across town for a Monday match at Marquette on TWC SportsChannel.

• Scouting Notebook
Winners of three-straight, the Golden Grizzlies are 6-2 in league play and 12-10 overall ... Milwaukee stormed out to a 2-0 lead at Oakland before hanging on for a five-set win in late September ... Oakland ranks third in the league in hitting percentage (.223) and second in blocks (2.11 per set) ... YSU is 8-15 overall and 2-6 in the Horizon League ... the Penguins won in three at home over UWM last month ... Youngstown is second in the league in aces at 1.65 per set ... the Vikings enter the weekend at 18-4 overall and atop the league standings at 7-1 ... CSU claimed a 3-0 win over the Panthers last month ... Cleveland will play at Green Bay Friday before Saturday's matchup at the Klotsche Center ... CSU leads the league in hitting (.261), opponent hitting (.189) and blocks (2.32) ... Marquette starts the week 14-7 overall ... the Golden Eagles are in the midst of a five-game homestand and will play two league matches before Monday's matchup against UWM ... MU sits third in the Big East standings entering the week.

• Series History
Milwaukee enters the week tied with Oakland in the all-time series and three wins apiece. Meanwhile, the Panthers still own a 27-8 edge over YSU and a 43-12 mark over CSU despite road loses to start the season this year. Finally, the Panthers hold a 44-30 mark all time against Marquette, but the Golden Eagles have drawn that series closer over the year by claiming the last eight wins.

• She Can Dig It
Myanna Ruiz moved from outside to libero this season and has made a seamless transition. In fact, the junior's average of 5.15 digs per set would be a single-season school record - with Lauren Felsing's mark of 5.04 back in 2008 currently the top mark. Additionally, her digs-per-set average also ranks 21st in the nation.
Ruiz also is on pace to finish in top-10 in total digs for a season. With at least nine matches left on the schedule, she currently has 386 digs on the season. Felsing is also the record-holder in that category with 645, also in 2008.

• Hitting The Century Mark
The Oct. 10th match at UIC was a historic one for junior Myanna Ruiz. With 21 digs against the Flames, Ruiz went over 1,000 for her career, becoming just the 12th player in program history to do so and reaching that figure in just 78 matches played. Senior Kayla Price is also closing in on the century mark for digs in her career, entering the week with 983.

• The Price Is Right
Kayla Price enters her senior season as one of the top setters in Milwaukee history. A starter from her first season on campus, the fifth-year senior has racked up a whopping 4,579 assists. That mark is good for third in program history. Katie Schneider holds the program record with 5,276 from 1996-99.

• Gimme Five
Milwaukee has played in some thrilling matches this season, including five that have gone the full five sets. The Panthers are 3-2 thus far this season when playing five, claiming wins over Furman, Oakland and Wright State.

• Making A Career Of It
The Panthers were statistically dominant in their five-set win at Oakland this season. In fact, four Panthers set career highs during the win. Kaisa Mattson had a career-high 21 kills, surpassing her old mark of 14. Myanna Ruiz (36), Maggie Dunbar (17) and Mykie Olsen (14) all tallied career bests in digs, while Kayla Price was just shy of PRs in both digs (18 - one away) and assists (58 - four away).

• Getting It Dun-Bar
Maggie Dunbar made quite the start to her senior season in the Black & Gold. The Bloomington, Ill. native came off the bench and notched a career-high 25 kills in the five-set win over Furman. Dunbar hit a whopping .465 to lead UWM to the comeback win. Just for perspective, that is only two kills shy of fourth place in program history for a five-set match.

• Tough Tests
As always, UWM will face plenty of tests during the 2015 season. The Panthers will face six NCAA Tournament squads from a year ago and teams from the Big Ten, Big 12, SEC and Big East. In all, Milwaukee will play 12 contests against teams that won 20 or more matches a year ago.

• On The Road Again
After opening the season with three-straight home matches as part of the Pepsi Panther Invitational, Milwaukee didn't play another home game the whole month of September. UWM faced 12-straight road matches, including playing away from home every weekend during the first month of school. Tournaments in North Dakota, Iowa and Illinois started the big road swing before a three-game road trip to Oakland, Youngstown State and Cleveland State to start conference play ended the month-long stretch.

• It's Good To Be Home
When it comes to home court advantage, Milwaukee has proven to make the Klotsche Center one of the toughest places to play. The Panthers posted a 9-3 mark a season ago to up their home record to 75-24 under head coach Susie Johnson, good for a winning percentage of .758. Here's Milwaukee's year-by-year home record under Johnson:

2014: 9-3
2013: 8-1
2012: 5-7
2011: 12-2
2010: 10-4
2009: 8-4
2008: 10-2
2007: 13-1

• Preseason Picks
Milwaukee has once again earned high praise from fellow league coaches in the preseason poll. The Panthers were picked to finish second in this year's preseason Horizon League poll, earning one first-place vote.

Individually, senior Kayla Price was named preseason All-Horizon League again this year. This marks the fourth-straight season Price has been honored in the preseason.

• All-Tourney Team
The Panthers played in four non-conference tournaments this year and boasted some great individual performances to start the season. Kayla Price and Myanna Ruiz were both named to the all-tournament team following the season-opening Pepsi Panther Invitational. Then, Price was at it again after the tournament in North Dakota. Maggie Dunbar was named to the all-tourney team in Iowa before freshman Maddie Williams got the nod after a strong showing at the Wildcat Invitational at Northwestern.

• Up Next
It's back to the road for the final time during the regular season next week. UWM will make its first ever trip to Highland Heights, Ky. Friday, taking on the Norse before a Saturday contest at Wright State on Halloween.

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Players Mentioned

#12 Maggie Dunbar: RS; 6' 2"; Senior

#13 Kaisa Mattson: MB; 6' 2"; Junior

#11 Mykie Olsen: DS; 5' 6"; Sophomore

#5 Kayla Price: S; 5' 9"; Senior

#2 Myanna Ruiz: L; 5' 8"; Junior

#15 Maddie Williams: MB; 5' 11"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

#12 Maggie Dunbar
: 6' 2"; Senior
: RS

#13 Kaisa Mattson
: 6' 2"; Junior
: MB

#11 Mykie Olsen
: 5' 6"; Sophomore
: DS

#5 Kayla Price
: 5' 9"; Senior
: S

#2 Myanna Ruiz
: 5' 8"; Junior
: L

#15 Maddie Williams
: 5' 11"; Freshman
: MB