Women's Volleyball September 12, 2017

Volleyball Starts Busy Week Tuesday Hosting Marquette

Then off to Michigan for weekend tournament

MILWAUKEE - Off to a 7-3 start to the 2017 season, the Milwaukee volleyball team returns to the court for four matches this week, starting Tuesday at home against Marquette.

The Panthers will play host to their crosstown rivals for a 6 pm contest at the Klotsche Center Tuesday for final home non-conference match of the year.

From there, UWM will head across the great lake for the Michigan Challenge, starting Friday. The Panthers will square off against Cincinnati Friday afternoon, before taking on No. 21 Michigan and NC State Saturday.

• Scouting Notebook
Marquette heads into the weekend with a 4-4 record, with three of those four losses coming at the hands of ranked opponents. MU also holds a win against a top-25 team this year, taking down No. 20 Hawaii to start the season. Milwaukee will be looking for win number 45 against the Golden Eagles all-time, but just the first since 2007.

Cincinnati has had a tough go to the start of the 2017 schedule, entering the weekend with a 1-8 record. Despite the challenging start, junior outside Carly Nolan has had an incredible early going, averaging 4.08 kills/set - good for 48th in the nation. The Panthers and Bearcats have meet just seven times in program history, with the most recent coming 10 years ago - a 3-2 Panther win at home.

Like many Big Ten schools, Michigan sports a strong volleyball program that is ranked 21st in this week's national poll. That is actually down from last week's spot at No. 16 after falling at No. 25 Colorado State last weekend. Saturday's morning matchup will be the first ever between the two programs.

NC State heads into the weekend winners of three-straight after a five-match losing streak to start the season. Despite the sub-.500 record, the Wolfpack is still hitting close to .300 as a team on the year. UWM and NC State have never played each other in volleyball and have only competed in twice head-to-head across all sports - once each in men's and women's basketball.

• The 20-Win Benchmark
All four of Milwaukee's opponents this week won at least 20 matches one year ago. Michigan led the way with 24, followed by Marquette (23), Cincinnati (22) and NC State (20). The Panthers already own a pair of wins against teams that reached the 20-win bench one season ago, sweeping NIU at home early in the season before taking down Army just last weekend.

• 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 185 victories coming while on the bench with UWM.

• 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.

• 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 10 matches, the senior middle is hitting a whopping .422 - good for 27th best in the entire nation. In fact, Kalous already has three matches this season where she has hit .650 or better, and another two 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 very 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 .257 hitting percentage as a team third overall in the league thus far, while this year's group also ranks second in service aces (1.70/set), fourth in assists (13.00/set) and fourth in kills (13.6/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).

• Opening The Dore
After an impressive freshman campaign at the setter position, Jenn Dore is at it again this year. The sophomore already has 429 assists through the first 10 games this year and averages 11.59 assists/set - both lead the conference thus far. On top of that, Dore set a new career best in the four-setter over Army with a whopping 60 assists in the win.

• 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 9-2 mark last year 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

• 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.

• Up Next
Next week is the start of conference play in the Horizon League, with Milwaukee welcoming Cleveland State and Oakland. UWM will take on the defending champs Friday at 6 pm.

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