Women's Volleyball November 17, 2016

Panther Volleyball Set For Horizon League Tournament

Milwaukee enters postseason as the fifth seed

MILWAUKEE - With the regular season in the books, the Milwaukee volleyball team heads to the Horizon League Tournament this weekend. This year's tournament is hosted by regular-season champ Cleveland State. The Panthers - the fifth seed in this year's tournament - kick things off against fourth-seeded Oakland Friday in the quarterfinals at 5 pm Central.

Panther Points
• Milwaukee has had tremendous success at the league tournament over the years, being crowned champions eight times, including four in Susie Johnson's first nine years at the helm. In fact, Johnson owns a 12-4 record at the conference tournament since being named head coach in 2007.

• Susie Johnson has quite a few newcomers on this year's Panther squad with many already playing key rolls this season. In fact, Milwaukee sports one of the youngest teams, not only in the Horizon League but in the entire country. With seven true freshman and only five upperclassmen, that makes them by far the youngest team in the conference this year.

• The Panthers were picked tied for fifth in the 2016 Horizon League preseason poll after finishing sixth overall one season ago.

• The Week Ahead
With the regular season in the books, the Milwaukee volleyball team heads to the Horizon League Tournament this weekend. This year's tournament is hosted by regular-season champ Cleveland State. The Panthers - the fifth seed in this year's tournament - kick things off against fourth-seeded Oakland Friday in the quarterfinals at 5 pm Central.

The Panthers' next opponent would be dependent on the other side of the bracket. If Valparaiso beats Northern Kentucky (those two play prior to Milwaukee's match with Oakland), UWM would go up against No. 2 Green Bay. If the Panthers are the lowest remaining seed, however, they will take on top-seeded Cleveland State. The league semifinals will take place Saturday afternoon, with Sunday's championship match set for 1 pm.

• Scouting Notebook
Milwaukee and Oakland are plenty familiar with one another, having just played last Friday in Oakland's regular season finale. UWM won that one, 3-0, with the Panthers on fire the whole match and OU looking out of sorts in its third-straight defeat. The Golden Grizzlies won the first matchup between the two teams this season, 3-2, in Michigan.

OU leads the league in service aces with 1.66/set overall this season but ranks at the bottom in the league in digs at 13.19/set overall.

• Cracking The History Books
UWM has had plenty of success at the Horizon League Tournament over the years, winning the whole thing eight times since joining the league. In fact, four of those eight tournament titles have come under current head coach Susie Johnson, who owns an outstanding 12-4 overall record in conference tournament history.

• All-Horizon League
The Horizon League announced its postseason awards earlier this week, with Milwaukee volleyball well represented. Three freshman earned multiple honors to show the successful youth movement for the Panthers. Bridget Wallenberger was named league freshman of the year, as well as being named to the all-league and all-freshman teams. Joining her on the all-freshman team was both Jenn Dore and Kylie Wilks. Wallenberger and Dore are two of the three players to start every match for UWM this season, with Wilks starting 26 of 27 times this year.

• Senior Salute
Milwaukee said thank you to its three-person senior class last Saturday as the trio played its final home match at the Klotsche Center. This year's senior class is comprised of Taylor Mansfield, Kaisa Mattson and Myanna Ruiz. Those three have now played a combined 210 matches for the Black & Gold over the last three-plus years.

• Injury Bug
Milwaukee has been hit hard by the injury bug this season, especially of late. Caitlin Schultz missed a good portion of the early going with a preseason injury before Mykie Olsen went down a few weeks ago and has missed a good part of the league slate with a leg injury. Now, Maddie Williams suffered an injury while filling in for a banged up Jess Kalous, and Teagan Taylor has missed the last four matches, as well. Sydney Book also joined the injury list, missing both matches this past weekend.

• Learning On The Job
UWM is by far the youngest team in the Horizon League this season and has gotten quite a bit of production so far from its youngsters. Six of Milwaukee's newcomers have seen significant time on the court this season, with five seeing the court this past weekend. Setter Jenn Dore is second in the league in assists with 11.34 per set. Meanwhile, Bridget Wallenberger ranks in the top 10 in the league in conference-only matches in kills (202), hitting percentage (.277) and blocks (76), while Kylie Wilks has also climbed into the charts in league kills with 192.

• Gimme Five
Panther fans sure are getting their money's worth out of games this season, with already eight matches going the full five sets so far this season. This is something of a trend, as Milwaukee played a total of 10 five setters one year ago, just one shy of the program record of 11 set back in 1998. This year's squad is an even 4-4 in five-set matches thus far.

• A Look At The League Ranks
Milwaukee has certainly made its presence known in the conference rankings this season. As a team, the Panthers rank first in blocks (2.58/set), third in assists (12.48/set), and third in kills (13.15/set) in league-only play. What is notable about those ranks is that not one individual from the Black & Gold leads the league in any individual category.

• Young Panthers
Susie Johnson has quite a few newcomers on this year's Panther squad with many already playing key rolls this season. In fact, Milwaukee sports one of the youngest teams, not only in the Horizon League but in the entire country. With seven true freshman and only five upperclassmen, that makes Milwaukee by far the youngest team in the conference this year.

• Setting The Record Straight
Milwaukee has quite a few freshmen playing significant minutes this season, which has led to some impressive results from the Panther newcomers. So much so that the freshman record book will have to be completely rewritten by the end of the season. Milwaukee already has the following to add to its freshmen top-10 all-time lists: Jenn Dore, 1,098 assists (3rd); Bridget Wallenberger, 289 kills (3rd); Kylie Wilks, 262 kills (7th); Wallenberger, 2.86 kills/set (3rd); Wilks, 2.62 kills/set (5th); Wallenberger, 1.09 blocks/set (4th).

• Opening The Dore
Freshman setter Jenn Dore is off to a nice start to her collegiate career, dishing out 1,098 assists in during the regular season. That already ranks as third most for a freshman in school history. By surpassing the 1,000 assists milestone two weeks ago, she became just the third Panther to do so in their first collegiate season. With the postseason left on the schedule, the school record - 1,264 held by current associate head coach Lindsey Vanden Berg - might be hard to reach, but second place is certainly a possibility at 1,180.

• Nice Net Work
Part of Milwaukee's success thus far stems from its work at the net. The Panthers posted 246 total blocks so far, including 11 and 13 in the first two matches alone. That is especially impressive considering the Panthers only tallied double-digit blocks seven times all of the 2015 season, already surpassing that total (14 so far this year) with at post season play still left on the schedule.

UWM is also doing well on the offensive side of the net, hitting .195 this year. In fact, the Panthers have hit .200 or better in 12 matches and .300 or better twice this year - with 11 of those matches resulting in wins. So far, the statistics show that if Milwaukee hits .175 or better, they should win, sitting 14-2 when hitting that benchmark so far this season.

• 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 7-4 mark last year and improved on that mark with a 9-2 record at Klotsche this season to up their home record to 91-30 under head coach Susie Johnson, good for a winning percentage of .752. Here's Milwaukee's year-by-year home record under Johnson:

2016: 9-2
2015: 7-4
2014: 9-3
2013: 8-1
2012: 5-7
2011: 12-2
2010: 10-4
2009: 8-4
2008: 10-2
2007: 13-1

• Hitting The Century Mark
Myanna Ruiz reached a milestone mark last year when she collected her 1,000th dig during her Milwaukee career. Ruiz achieved the memorable feat Oct. 10th at UIC, becoming the 12th player in program history to reach the remarkable accomplishment.

• She Can Dig It
Myanna Ruiz picked up right where she left off last year. After being named All-Horizon League a year ago with one of the best defensive back row seasons in program history, Ruiz led all players in the Panther Invitational with 48 digs in the three matches, earning her Horizon League Defensive Player of the Week honors and has consistently been the defensive leader for Milwaukee all season.
Ruiz is quickly climbing the charts as one of the all-time digs leaders in program history, recently moving into third all time.

1. Lauren Felsing                   1,929                       2006-09
2. Becky Peters                     1,875                       2005-08
3. Myanna Ruiz                   1,668                           2013-
4. Laura Dallenbach              1,600                       1998-01
5. Leanne Felsing                  1,329                       2004-07

• Up Next
The winner of the Horizon League Tournament will earn an automatic berth to the NCAA Championships, which start Dec. 1.

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Players Mentioned

#9 Jess Kalous: MB; 6' 2"; Junior

#1 Taylor Mansfield: RS; 5' 11"; Senior

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

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

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

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

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

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

#7 Sydney Book: RS/MB/OH; 6' 1"; Freshman

#8 Jenn Dore: S; 5' 10"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

#9 Jess Kalous
: 6' 2"; Junior
: MB

#1 Taylor Mansfield
: 5' 11"; Senior
: RS

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

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

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

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

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

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

#7 Sydney Book
: 6' 1"; Freshman
: RS/MB/OH

#8 Jenn Dore
: 5' 10"; Freshman
: S