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Kylie Wilks

Women's Volleyball

Volleyball Opens 2018 Season With Panther Invitational

Milwaukee to play New Hampshire, South Dakota & Northwestern this weekend

MILWAUKEE – The Milwaukee volleyball team will officially kick off the 2018 season this weekend, playing host to its annual Panther Invitational starting Friday. It all gets underway at Noon from inside the Klotsche Center with an opening match against New Hampshire. MKE will also square off against South Dakota (Friday at 7:30 pm) and Northwestern (Saturday at 3 pm) in the 20th running of Panther Invitational.
 
• Scouting Notebook
Friday's opener will serve as the first match of the year for New Hampshire, as well. The Wildcats finished last year with a 13-14 overall record and going 8-4 in the America East Conference before bowing out in the conference tournament semifinals. Six-time league coach of the Year Jill Hirschinger will look to return UNH back to the top of it's conference with a core returning group, featuring a pair of Wisconsin products. The Wildcats were picked to finish second in their conference's preseason poll.
 
When South Dakota comes to campus this weekend, it will make the return of former Panther standout and current USD head coach Leanne Williamson (nee Felsing). Now in her fifth-year leading the Coyotes, Williamson once again has high hopes heading into season. After a 17-11 overall record last year, the Yotes have been picked fourth in this year's preseason Summit League poll, with Oak Creek native and fellow Wisconsin Lutheran High School grad Anne Rasmussen being named to the conference's preseason watch list.
 
One season ago, Northwestern set a program record after hitting .247 on the season. Coupled with a 14-18 overall record in the vaunted Big Ten, and the Wildcats once again come in with big plans for the season despite a very young roster. This year's freshman class was ranked as one of the top-20 in the nation by PrepVolleyball.com for head coach Shane Davis, now entering his third season at NU.
 
• Series History
Milwaukee has a relatively small amount of experience with each of the three visiting teams at this year's Panther Invitational. MKE squared off against Northwestern just last year for only the fourth time in Division-I history, with NU holding a 4-0 edge in the all-time series. Meanwhile, the season opener will mark just the second-ever matchup against New Hampshire, with Milwaukee claiming a 3-0 win back in 2000. The Panthers and Coyotes have played three times prior to Saturday's showdown, with MKE claiming all three previous contests.
 
• 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 2018 season with 491 total wins.
 
• Home History
While Milwaukee has been historically very good on its home court, the same can be said for the Panther Invitational. This year will mark the 20th running of Milwaukee's home tournament since the inaugural go about in 1995. MKE owns a 43-20 all-time record during its home tournament, including posting a perfect record six times - most recently just two seasons ago in 2016.
 
• Youth Movement
Susie Johnson will once again have quite a young squad to work with this season. Nine of Milwaukee 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 will look quite a bit different at the start of 2018 than they did at the end of last season.
 
• Hitting The Century Mark
Recent graduate Mykie Olsen had one of the more memorable senior days in recent memory last year. The libero tallied a new career high in digs with 25 in the win over NKU. With that effort, Olsen became just the 13th player in program history to reach 1,000 digs for her career.
 
• Opening The Dore
After an impressive freshman campaign at the setter position, Jenn Dore took her game up a notch last year. Dore finished her sophomore season with 1,307 assists a year ago - good for fifth most in a single season in Milwaukee history. Not only that, but her 11.67 assists/set ranked her 10th in the entire NCAA at the end of the 2017 season.
 
• The Big 2-0-0
Milwaukee head coach Susie Johnson reached the 200-win milestone in the early going of last season with her team's 3-0 sweep of Northern Illinois. Now in her 12th year as head coach of the Black and Gold and 14th season serving as head coach in her career, Johnson isn't far from the 200-win plateau with the Panthers, entering the 2018 season with 190 while leading the Black & Gold.
 
• Catch All The Action
Milwaukee volleyball will once again be readily available for the viewing pleasure of MKE fans this season, with nine home games streamed live on ESPN+. The Horizon League and ESPN have an agreement that includes ESPN hosting the league's digital network on the ESPN+ platform.
 
ESPN+, which will host the Horizon League women's soccer, men's soccer and volleyball championships this fall, offers fans thousands of live events, on-demand content and original programming not available on ESPN's linear TV or digital networks. Fans can subscribe to ESPN+ for just $4.99 a month (or $49.99 per year) and cancel at any time. Launched in April of 2018, ESPN+ is an integrated part of a completely redesigned ESPN App.
 
• Up Next
Milwaukee will hit the road for the first time in 2018, playing four matches in two cities next week, both out of state. Things start Tuesday with a mid-week contest at Northern Illinois. From there, MKE will head west for a two-day tournament at head coach Susie Johnson's alma mater Idaho State. In addition to the Bengals, Milwaukee will also play Boise State and UC Riverside next weekend.
 
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Players Mentioned

Mykie Olsen

#11 Mykie Olsen

DS
5' 6"
Senior
Jenn Dore

#8 Jenn Dore

S
5' 11"
Junior

Players Mentioned

Mykie Olsen

#11 Mykie Olsen

5' 6"
Senior
DS
Jenn Dore

#8 Jenn Dore

5' 11"
Junior
S