Women's Volleyball September 23, 2015

Volleyball Opens League Play With Three Road Matches

Panthers take on Oakland, Youngstown State and Cleveland State on three-straight days

MILWAUKEE - The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's volleyball team wraps up a month-long road trip by kicking off conference play Thursday. It's a rematch of last year's league tournament championship as UWM takes on Oakland Thursday at 6 p.m. Central before Friday and Saturday contests against Youngstown State and Cleveland State.

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
It's the start of league play this week as Milwaukee will head east to take on three Horizon-League foes in three days beginning Thursday to start the conference schedule.

• Scouting Notebook
Oakland is the defending league champion, getting by UWM in last year's league tournament final ... the Golden Grizzlies enter Thursday's match with a 6-8 record ... OU went 3-1 at its own invitational this past weekend, with its lone loss coming at the hands of No. 13 Ohio State ... Oakland is second in the league in blocks with just over two per set ... Youngstown State is 5-9 heading into the weekend ... the Penguins will face Green Bay Thursday before Friday's match against Milwaukee ... YSU started the season .500 before dropping four in a row ... junior Val Jeffrey was named league preseason setter of the year ... Cleveland State - which also plays GB before Milwaukee - is 11-3 heading into the weekend ... senior Christina Toth was named league offensive player of the week last week after leading CSU to a tournament title at Toledo ... the Vikings' 136 total blocks this season ranks sixth in the NCAA, while their 2.44 blocks per set are 59th overall ... CSU also leads the league in hitting percentage at .261.

• Catch All The Action
The majority of Milwaukee's league contests will be streamed live online through ESPN. Only one of the Panthers' home games will not be streamed this season (Oct. 3), while the majority of its league games will be available for fans on ESPN3.com - including all three matches this weekend.

• Series History
Milwaukee and Oakland had three thrilling contests a year ago, with Oakland improving to a 3-2 mark all-time in the career series ... the Penguins and Panthers split last year's season series, but UWM still owns a 27-7 edge in the all-time series ... Milwaukee is 43-11 against Cleveland State, though the two teams have had plenty of memorable matches in recent years, with the two teams splitting the regular-season series each of the past two years.

• 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.

• New Faces
Five newcomers join the Black & Gold this season. Taylor Mansfield will start her junior season after transferring from Trinidad State Junior College in southern Colorado. Meanwhile, four freshmen will start their collegiate careers in Celine Jones (Burr Ridge, Ill.), Caitlin Schultz (Port Washington, Wis.), Teagan Taylor (Burlington, Wis.) and Maddie Williams (Normal, Ill.).

• All-Tourney Team
With three tournaments under its belt, the Panthers have already boasted some great individual performances to start the season. First, 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. Two weeks ago, Maggie Dunbar was named to the all-tourney team in Iowa after three solid outings against Iowa, No. 25 Texas A&M and Iowa State. Finally, it was freshman Maddie Williams getting the nod after a strong showing at the Wildcat Invitational at Northwestern.

• 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.

• A Little History
While the Panthers have hit a bit of a rough patch going up against some mighty tough opponents to start the season, Panther fans should not panic. The 2010 team started the season 3-7 before going 15-1 in league play and winning the league title. Just one year earlier, Milwaukee started 2-9 and was 5-14 before going on a tear, marching to a league tournament title and an NCAA Tournament berth. UWM was also 2-9 to start the 2002 season before winning the league tournament title and heading to the NCAA Tournament.

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

• 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 4,292 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.

• 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

• Up Next
The Panthers finally return home after a month-long road swing. Milwaukee will host Wright State Friday at 7 p.m. before a Saturday afternoon contest against Northern Kentucky.

Print Friendly Version

Players Mentioned

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

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

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

#6 Celine Jones: RS; 5' 10"; Freshman

#17 Caitlin Schultz: OH; 6' 4"; Freshman

#4 Teagan Taylor: DS; 5' 6"; Freshman

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

#1 Taylor Mansfield: OH; 5' 11"; Junior

Players Mentioned

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

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

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

#6 Celine Jones
: 5' 10"; Freshman
: RS

#17 Caitlin Schultz
: 6' 4"; Freshman
: OH

#4 Teagan Taylor
: 5' 6"; Freshman
: DS

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

#1 Taylor Mansfield
: 5' 11"; Junior
: OH