Women's Volleyball October 08, 2015

Volleyball Looks To Keep It Rolling This Weekend

Panthers to take on Valparaiso, UIC

It's back to the road for the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee volleyball team this weekend. After a brief two-game homestand, the Panthers will now travel to Valparaiso and UIC this weekend, starting with a Friday evening contest against the Crusaders.

Panther Points
• After a very challenging non-conference schedule, Milwaukee is right in the thick of things in Horizon League action. With two weeks of league play in the books, the Panthers sit fourth overall, with matches against the second and fifth-place teams on the schedule for this weekend.

• 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
Milwaukee returns to the road after a brief, two-game homestand. UWM will head to Valparaiso for a big match Friday night before a Saturday afternoon contest at UIC.

• Scouting Notebook
Valparaiso enters the weekend at 15-3 overall ... VU ranks first in the Horizon League in kills (14.08 per set), aces (1.80/set) and assists (13.05/set), while also checking in second in hitting percentage (.252), opponent hitting percentage (.189) and digs (17.02/set) ... libero Morganne Longoria was named the preseason league defensive player of the year, while Emily Campbell was named to the preseason all-league team ... Campbell leads the team in kills at 4.15 per set, while Longoria is averaging just over four digs per set ... UIC enters the weekend at 8-9 overall ... the Flames dropped both of their league matches last weekend to even out at 2-2 ... Staphenee Yancy was named the preseason league player of the year ... Yancy leads the league with 4.37 kills per set, hitting at a .366 clip ... setter Nicole Johnson leads the conference in assists with 11.58 per set.

• Catch All The Action
The majority of Milwaukee's league contests will be streamed live online through ESPN. All the remaining Panther home games will be streamed, while the majority of its league games will be available for fans on ESPN3.com - including both of this weekend's matches.

• Series History
Milwaukee has plenty of history against both of this week's opponents. All time, UWM holds a 20-16 edge over Valparaiso. The Panthers went 3-0 against the Crusaders last year, including a win in the league tournament. Milwaukee also has a 42-17 lead in the series against UIC, going 2-0 against the Flames last season.

• 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 5.19 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. Ruiz also is on pace to finish in top-10 in total digs for a season. With at least 12 matches left on the schedule, she currently has 332 digs on the season. Felsing is also the record-holder in that category with 645, also in 2008. Additionally, Ruiz is just 27 digs shy of reaching 1,000 for her career.

• Hitting The Century Mark
Both Kayla Price and Myanna Ruiz are both closing in on milestone moments for their college careers, as both are narrowing in on 1,000 digs for their careers. Ruiz enters the weekend with 973 career digs, while Price sits at 955 heading into Friday's match.

• 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 4,483 assists. That mark is good for third in program history. Katie Schneider holds the program record with 5,276 from 1996-99.

In fact, Price's season average of 11.47 assists per set last year was not only a career high, it was also good for 15th in the entire nation.

• Gimme Five
Milwaukee has played in some thrilling matches this season, including four that have gone the full five sets. The Panthers are 3-1 thus far this season when playing five with the lone loss coming in the tournament finale at North Dakota State, while 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 again was named all-tournament 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
There is just one match on next week's schedule for the Panthers - a Friday night contest at in-state rival Green Bay.

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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