Women's Volleyball October 04, 2017

First Trip To IUPUI Starts Roadswing For Milwaukee Volleyball

Panthers look to bounce back on the road

MILWAUKEE – Milwaukee hits the road for its first true road swing of the conference season, heading south for a pair of league matches starting Friday. The action starts Friday at conference newcomer IUPUI before a Saturday contest at Northern Kentucky.

• Scouting Notebook
IUPUI joined the Horizon League earlier this summer in all sports ... the Jaguars enjoyed a long stretch of 20-win seasons in the Summit league before a 12-20 finish last year ... this season, the newcomers are 7-10 overall but sit right near the top of the league leaderboard with a 3-1 conference record ... head coach Steve Payne enters his 21st season as the leader of the Jags ... IUPUI is one of the top defensive teams in the conference thus far this season, ranking second in blocks (2.25/set) and third in digs (17.03/set) ... senior Kori Waelbroeck is the clear team leader with 259 kills thus far - over 100 more than the next player ... Waelbroeck's 3.87 kills/set also ranks second in the conference through week six ... Milwaukee does own a 4-0 record all-time against IUPUI, though the two teams haven't squared off since doing so in back-to-back seasons in both 1998 and 1999.

Northern Kentucky enters the weekend 6-7 overall and 2-2 in the conference standings ... the Norse' season-opening tournament at Houston Baptist was cancelled due to Hurricane Harvey ... with their win over Youngstown State on Friday, the Norse notched their 1,000th win in program history ... outsides Haley Libs and Laura Crawford lead a balanced attack with each sitting in the top-10 in kills/set in the league rankings ... the Norse lead the league with 18.22 digs/set through all matches, with four players averaging over 3.00 digs/set ... the Panthers are 3-1 in program history against NKU.

• 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. Finally, 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 726 assists through the first 18 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
While it is still early, 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 .223 hitting percentage as a team is second overall in the league thus far, while this year's group also ranks third in blocks (2.23/set) and third in service aces (1.37/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
The Panthers return home for a pair of weekend matches from the Klotsche Center next weekend. It all starts Saturday with a 4pm match against Youngstown State before Wright State comes to town for another 4pm contest.

Print Friendly Version

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