Women's Volleyball September 06, 2017

Panthers Return To Chicago In Pursuit Of More Success

DePaul Invitational starts Friday

MILWAUKEE - Fresh off its tournament win at the Rambler Challenge last weekend, the Milwaukee volleyball team will look for more success in the Windy City this weekend when they take part in the DePaul Invitational, starting Friday.

UWM starts things off with a 4:30 pm contest Friday against Big Ten foe Northwestern. Saturday begins by taking on the host Blue Demons at 10 am, which will be live streamed through DePaul's video service provider - DePaul Blue Tube. Milwaukee's weekend action wraps up later that day with a 4:30 pm match against Army.

• Scouting Notebook
Northwestern enters the weekend also carrying a four-match win streak with a 5-1 record overall thus far. Through six matches, the Wildcats are hitting an impressive .299 as a team and have limited their opponents to just .172. Milwaukee will be looking for its first ever win in the series as NU holds a 4-0 lead all-time, though the 2013 squad forced things to five before coming up just short.

The host Blue Demons head into the weekend with a 2-3 record. It's been a streaky start to the year for DePaul, being swept in the season-opening tournament at Indiana before a 2-0 showing at the UIC Invitational last weekend. It's been a while since UWM and DePaul have squared off, Milwaukee holds an 18-4 lead in the all-time series, including an 11-2 edge since the Panthers moved to the Division I ranks in 1990. The two schools have not played each other since a 3-0 Milwaukee win in 2010.

Army comes into the weekend having alternated wins and losses in each match so far to make up a 4-3 overall record. A 20-win team a year ago, the Black Knights are led by senior middle Carolyn Bockrath, who leads the team with 3.13 kills/set and is hitting an impressive .477 on the season. Saturday's contest will be the first ever between Milwaukee and Army.

• 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 183 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.

• 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 seven matches, the senior middle is hitting a whopping .476 - good for 16th best in the entire nation. In fact, Kalous already has three matches this season where she has hit .650 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 .256 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 (12.44/set) and fourth in kills (13.11/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
Being a true freshman playing setter is no easy task, but Milwaukee's Jenn Dore handled the pressure just fine last year. Starting at the position from day one, Dore racked up a whopping 1,142 assists last year while helping the young Panthers to the Horizon League Tournament. That mark ranks third all-time for a freshman in school history and was just shy of 10th for any season in program history.

• 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.

• 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.

• Gimme Five
The Panthers have certainly given the fans their money's worth over the last two-plus seasons with quite a number of matches going the full five sets. Last year, UWM found itself in nine matches that went five sets - one year after playing 10 such matches in 2015. Both flirted with the school record of 11 set back in 1998. UWM has already played in three five-setters this year through just seven matches.

• Up Next
The Panthers play host to cross-town rival Marquette in a midweek match next Tuesday. First serve is scheduled for 6 pm from the Klotsche Center.

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Players Mentioned

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

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

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

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