Panther Volleyball Set For Final Homestand

Senior day set for Saturday

MILWAUKEE – The Milwaukee volleyball team closes out its home schedule this weekend with a pair of contests, starting Friday. The Panthers play host to Northern Kentucky Friday at 6 pm before UWM honors its senior class prior to Saturday's match against IUPUI - scheduled for a 4 pm start.

• Scouting Notebook
Northern Kentucky enters the weekend directly ahead of Milwaukee in the league standings at 6-6 in conference play ... after starting 4-2, the Norse have dropped four of their last six ... NKU split last weekend's matches, falling at home to Oakland, 3-1, before sweeping Youngstown State ... freshman middle Kaelin Gentile was named Horizon League Offensive Player of the Week this week ... Northern Kentucky leads the league in digs at 17.93/set, with five players tallying over 200 digs so far this season ... junior outside Haley Libs leads her team on the attack with 3.49 kills/set ... Milwaukee holds a 3-2 lead in the all-time series with Norse.

IUPUI enters the weekend tied for the league lead at 9-3 through with four matches to go ... the Horizon League's newest member had won four-straight before a 3-1 loss against defending champ Cleveland State last Saturday ... the Jaguars will head north to take on Green Bay Friday night before Saturday's match in Milwaukee ... senior right side Kori Waelbroeck is the clear offensive leader for IUPUI, averaging nearly four kills/set with nearly 400 more attempts than any of her teammates ... junior Abby Boatman ranks second the league in blocks with 1.12/set ... as a team, the Jags' defense stands out, ranking second in both blocks (2.41/set), digs (17.31/set) and opponent hitting percentage (.201) ... IUPUI won the opening conference showdown between the two schools, 3-0, back in early October, but Milwaukee still holds a 4-1 lead in the all-time series.

• Opening The Dore
After an impressive freshman campaign at the setter position, Jenn Dore is at it again this year. The sophomore already has 1,121 assists through the first 25 matches this year - tops in the conference thus far and fourth overall in the entire NCAA. The sophomore has really been hot lately and earned Horizon League Offensive Player of the Week honors two weeks ago after tying her career high of 63 assists in a win at Oakland before a double-double of 54 assists and 11 digs at Cleveland State. While Milwaukee has played deeper into matches than some, Dore has also proven to be awfully efficient at 11.55 assists/set - 13th best in the country.

• Checking The Standings
Milwaukee sits in seventh place in the league standings with two weeks left in the regular season. At 4-8, the Panthers will have some work to, but still travel to Wright State and Youngstown State next weekend - who the Panthers beat at home earlier this season.

• Senior Sendoff
The Panthers will say thank you to the 2017 senior class prior to Saturday's home finale against IUPUI. Mykie Olsen and Jess Kalous will play their final two home matches this weekend, with the duo wrapping up impressive four-year careers in the Black & Gold.

• 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 382 digs on the season and is seventh in the league in digs/set at 4.21 since conference play started. The senior has been especially hot of late, with double-digit digs in each of the last 12 matches, headlined by a new career-high 24 digs in a win over Wright State on Oct. 15. That was just one day after 19 digs in a three-set sweep of Youngstown State.

• Doubling Down
Sophomore Kylie Wilks has been on fire of late for Milwaukee. Despite being undersized, the Union Grove native was a huge reason for Milwaukee's recent three-game win streak. Wilks had 11 kills and a career-high 19 digs Oct. 14 against Youngstown State before a match-high 21 kills and 17 digs one day later in a win over Wright State. She followed that up with another 18 kills and 19 digs in a win at league-leading Oakland. That marked her sixth-straight double-double and she now has nine total on the season with at least four matches left on the schedule. That comes one year after tallying eight double-doubles as a true freshman last season.

• 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 189 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.

• The Wright Side Of Things
Milwaukee put together an awfully impressive showing Oct. 15 in its win over Wright State. Not only did the Panthers claim an important win in conference play, but they also set a number of season highs in kills (74), assists (67) and digs (80).

• 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.

• 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 will close out the 2017 regular season on the road, traveling to Wright State and Youngstown State next weekend, starting Friday.

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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