Women's Volleyball October 12, 2017

Volleyball Returns Home For Pair Of Weekend Matches

Panthers host Penguins, Raiders

MILWAUKEE – UWM returns home this weekend in search of some wins, taking on Youngstown State Saturday and Cleveland State Sunday. Both matches will take place inside the Klotsche Center and are scheduled for a 4 pm start time.

• Scouting Notebook
Youngstown State started the season with high hopes, going 7-7 in non-conference play - including a 4-0 start to the season - but have gone winless thus far in the Horizon League for a 7-14 record overall heading into the weekend ... the Penguins played Milwaukee's other weekend opponent - Wright State - Wednesday night, with WSU coming out on top, 3-1 ... YSU runs a 6-2 offense, with each setter registering over 300 assists thus far ... junior middle Sarah Varcolla leads the team in kills with 204 ... Varcolla is also one of the league leaders in blocks, averaging just over one per set ... the Panthers head into Saturday's match with a 30-8 all-time advantage over the Penguins.

Wright State sits right ahead of the Panthers in the league standings going into the weekend with a 9-11 overall record and 3-4 in conference play ... the Raiders league wins have come against defending champs Cleveland State, previously undefeated Green Bay and Youngstown State ... since starting conference play 0-3, WSU has won three of its last four ... the Raiders swept the Chicago State Invitational in non-conference play ... senior libero Jessie Thornton leads the conference and is ranked 36th in the nation in digs/set at 5.09 ... Milwaukee owns a 40-16 lead in the series with WSU.

• She Can Dig it
Senior Mykie Olsen has made a smooth switch over to libero this season after her first three years as a defensive specialist. The East Troy native has a team-high 268 digs on the season and racked up 37 last weekend with 18 in the three-setter at IUPUI and another 19 one day later in a four-setter at Northern Kentucky.

• What-A-Wallenberger
Bridget Wallenberger had quite the day against UIC Oct. 1. The reigning Horizon League Freshman of the Year tied her career-high with 24 kills while hitting an impressive .420. In fact, through four league matches, Wallenberger leads the league in hitting at a .390 clip, ranks third in kills at 4.00/set, is sixth in blocks (1.13/set) and 10th in service aces at roughly one per match.

• The Big 2-0-0
Milwaukee head coach Susie Johnson reached the 200-win milestone in just the first week of the 2017 season with her team's 3-0 sweep of Northern Illinois. Now in her 11th year as head coach of the Black and Gold and 13th season serving as head coach in her career, Johnson isn't far from the 200-win plateau with the Panthers, with already 186 victories coming while on the bench with UWM.

• Tops In The Nation
Milwaukee had a mighty impressive showing on the defensive side of things against NC State Sept. 16. As a team, UWM racked up 17 total blocks - the most in a match for Milwaukee since 2012.

A big part of that was the monstrous performance from sophomore Bridget Wallenberger. The middle tallied a career-best 10 blocks herself, with five of those of the solo variety. In fact, she was the only player in Division I to register five solo blocks in a match this season until last weekend when Meredith Stutz of Miami (Ohio) matched that feat in a five-set win over Kent State.

• Early Honors
It didn't take long for Milwaukee to earn its first awards of the season. Middles Jess Kalous and Bridget Wallenberger were both named to the Panther Invitational All-Tournament team after strong showings in UWM's home tournament. The duo combined for 69 kills and 22 blocks on the weekend to garner the recognition. Then, one week later, Jenn Dore was named to the four-person all-tournament team after Milwaukee swept through the Rambler Challenge. Dore racked up 113 assists and helped Milwaukee hit nearly .300 for the weekend. Mykie Olsen was the Panthers' representative after going 2-1 at the DePaul Invitational. Olsen in 45 digs on the weekend, including a career-best 20 in a big win over Army. Finally, Dore was again recognized after the Michigan Challenge hosted by then 21st-ranked Michigan.

• Opening The Dore
After an impressive freshman campaign at the setter position, Jenn Dore is at it again this year. The sophomore already has 804 assists through the first 20 games this year - tops in the conference thus far - and averages 11.17 assists/set. That total ranks her 24th in the entire NCAA. On top of that, Dore set a new career best in the four-setter over Army with a whopping 60 assists in the win.

• Awfully Efficient
Senior Jess Kalous has had an impressive start to the season, quickly establishing herself as one of the most efficient hitters in the entire NCAA this season. Through Milwaukee's first 18 matches, the senior middle is hitting an impressive .349 - good for 99th best in the entire nation. In fact, Kalous already has three matches this season where she has hit .650 or better, and another three at .500 or better.

• Young Panthers
Milwaukee once again has a young squad, with nine of this year's 14-player roster made up of underclassmen. That comes one year after UWM sported the youngest team in the Horizon League with seven true freshmen, with three of those seven starting nearly every match last year.

• Well That Was Fast
Jess Kalous wasted little time in etching her name in the Panther record book this season. The senior middle had an outstanding showing against Idaho State Aug. 25, headlined by her .652 (16-23) hitting percentage. That marked a program record for a five-set match, besting Natalie Schmitting's previous record of .600 (13-20) set back on Nov. 15, 2008 - a 3-2 win over Loyola in the regular-season finale.

• League Leaders
Nearing the midway point of the conference season, the Panthers have quickly shown some of their strengths this season while sitting at or near the top of the league standings in quite a number of categories. Milwaukee's .216 hitting percentage as a team is fourth overall in the league thus far, while this year's group also ranks third in blocks (2.17/set) and third in service aces (1.31/set).

• All-Horizon League
Milwaukee's youth movement last year garnered plenty of postseason awards, including a trio handed out by the Horizon League. Bridget Wallenberger was named Horizon League Freshman of the Year last season, while also being named to the all-league and all-freshman squads. Fellow newcomers Jenn Dore and Kylie Wilks each also earned spots on the league's all-freshman squad last year.

• Setting The Record Straight
With so many freshmen seeing significant minutes last season, the Milwaukee freshman record book was seemingly rewritten during the 2016 season. Last year alone saw the following added to its freshmen top-10 all-time lists: Jenn Dore, 1,142 assists (3rd); Bridget Wallenberger, 308 kills (3rd); Kylie Wilks, 271 kills (6th); Wallenberger, 2.91 kills/set (3rd); Wilks, 2.58 kills/set (5th); Wallenberger, 1.08 blocks/set (t-4th).

• Block Party
Milwaukee tallied 259.0 total blocks one season ago - its highest output since the storied 2011 team that racked up 272.0. In fact, both Jess Kalous and Bridget Wallenberger eclipsed 100 blocks for the season in 2016 - the first time two Panthers did so in the same year also since the 2011 campaign that saw that players (Kerri Schuh, Rachel Neuberger & Makenzie Millis) accomplish that feat.

• Catch All The Action
Milwaukee volleyball will once again be readily available for the viewing pleasure of UWM fans this season, with 10 home games streamed live on ESPN3. The Horizon League and ESPN have an agreement that includes ESPN hosting the league's digital network on the ESPN3 platform. ESPN3 is available to nearly 116.3 million homes.

• Up Next
Milwaukee starts the second half of the conference season next weekend on the road, heading east to take on Oakland Friday and Cleveland State Saturday.

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Players Mentioned

#8 Jenn Dore: S; 5' 11"; Sophomore

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

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

#12 Bridget Wallenberger: MB; 6' 2"; Sophomore

#14 Kylie Wilks: OH; 5' 8"; Sophomore

Players Mentioned

#8 Jenn Dore
: 5' 11"; Sophomore
: S

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

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

#12 Bridget Wallenberger
: 6' 2"; Sophomore
: MB

#14 Kylie Wilks
: 5' 8"; Sophomore
: OH