Women's Volleyball November 07, 2018

MKE Volleyball Looks To Improve On Postseason Seeding

Panthers head to UIC, Green Bay to close out regular season

MILWAUKEE – With a postseason spot already clinched, the Milwaukee volleyball team heads into the final regular season weekend of the year still with plenty to play for. The Panthers - who can finish as high as sixth in the final league standings - will head to UIC for a rare Thursday evening contest before closing out this year's regular season at Green Bay Friday. Both matches will be streamed live online on through ESPN's online channels, with live stats also available for both matches.

• Scouting Notebook
UIC has been on a bit of a cold streak the last few weeks. They enter the week with a 9-5 in league play, but have fallen from a tie for first into fourth place over the past two weeks. The Flames can still finish anywhere from the second seed to their current fourth-place standing. UIC will also play host to Green Bay Saturday at 4 pm.

Meanwhile, Green Bay starts their weekend in a tie for the league lead and can still claim their first Horizon League regular season crown in program history. The Phoenix - sitting at 11-3 in league play - will play host to Milwaukee Friday before celebrating their senior day Saturday when they host UIC to close out the league slate.

• Series History
Despite dropping the first end of the conference home-and-home earlier this year, Milwaukee still holds a 44-22 edge over UIC and a 52-20 lead against Green Bay all time.

• A Look At The League
The last two weeks have seen a number of upsets across the league, leaving much still up for grabs heading into the final weekend. Milwaukee - which already clinched a spot in next weekend's Horizon League Tournament - can finish anywhere from third to sixth. Cleveland State and Green Bay are the only two teams that can claim the regular season title. IUPUI - which had just two league wins a week ago - can qualify for this year's tournament if they win out and get some help. Overall, while five teams have already clinched berths into the postseason, all six spots are still up for grabs heading into the final week.

• An Impressive Turn
Despite a rough start to the season, this Milwaukee squad never gave up - something that has shown, especially over the last few weeks. The Panthers went on a strong run where they won six of eight. That run ultimately proved vital as Milwaukee is guaranteed a spot in this year's Horizon League Tournament after just missing out on the dance last year.

• She Can Dig It
Freshman Jess Grabowski is on an impressive start to her collegiate career. With at least three matches still to go, the Greendale native has already racked up an impressive 515 digs - already second-most for a freshman in MKE history. Her 5.00 digs/set would not only be a program freshman record, but would rank the second-highest single-season performance in MKE history. For her efforts, she was named the conference's defensive player of the week on Sept. 17 after averaging an eye-popping 7.1 digs/set in a weekend tournament at Bradley.

• Climbing The Charts
This year's Panther squad has a number of individuals that are well on their way to etching their names in the Panther record books. Jenn Dore cracked 3,000 career assists last weekend, which already ranks her fourth in program history. Kylie Wilks is on pace to become just the fifth player in program history to reach 1,000 career digs and kills, entering the weekend with 911 digs (ranking 18th) and 775 kills (ranking 16th).

Meanwhile, a number of newcomers have had impressive opening collegiate campaigns for MKE this season. Rylie Vaughn's 545 assists stand eighth on the freshman record board. Jess Grabowksi's 515 digs already stand second for a Panther freshman, while her 5.00 digs/set would be a newcomer record. Both Vaughn and Grabowski also have a chance to reach the top-10 in service aces, with 23 standing as the current 10th-best in the books.

• Youth Movement
Susie Johnson once again has quite a young squad to work with this season. Nine of Milwaukee's 17 players are either freshmen or sophomores. Combine that with the fact that three of the Panthers upperclassmen are new to the team this year and MKE has quite a different look at the start of 2018 than they did at the end of last season.

Not only does Milwaukee have a large number of young players on this year's roster, but they are seeing the majority of minutes. Five freshmen were in the starting lineup for the first serve of the season, something that has largely remained unchanged.

• A Crisp Hundred
In its win over Northern Kentucky on Oct. 19, Milwaukee reached an impressive defensive milestone by racking up 100 digs to help spur the big win. That is significant as it marked the first time in over six years (a four-set win over Wright State on Oct. 12, 2012) MKE has reached triple digits in digs - the only other time the team has cracked 100 since 2010.

• I'll Take Milwaukee For 500
Milwaukee has a very rich volleyball history with 13 league titles and 10 NCAA Tournament appearances. Now in its 29th season at the Division I level, the Panthers are on the verge of notching win No. 500 in program history. MKE enters the week with 499 total wins.

• Up Next
The Panthers will head to the 2018 Horizon League Tournament next weekend. MKE is guaranteed to play in Friday's quarterfinals, with the semifinals scheduled for Saturday before Sunday's championship. The league tournament will be played at the regular season champion's home gym, with Cleveland State and Green Bay still battling to see who will claim this year's hosting rights.

Print Friendly Version

Players Mentioned

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

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

#12 Jess Grabowski: DS; 5' 4"; Freshman

#13 Rylie Vaughn: S; 5' 9"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

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

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

#12 Jess Grabowski
: 5' 4"; Freshman
: DS

#13 Rylie Vaughn
: 5' 9"; Freshman
: S