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Rylie Vaughn

Women's Volleyball

Volleyball Starts Busy Week Tuesday At NIU

Johnson leads team to alma mater for weekend tournament

MILWAUKEE – Milwaukee begins a month-long stretch away from home Tuesday with a mid-week contest at Northern Illinois at 6 pm. Then, the Panthers will head west for three contests at head coach Susie Johnson's alma mater Idaho State. MKE will go up against Boise State and UC Riverside Friday before taking on the tournament hosts Saturday.
 
• Scouting Notebook
Northern Illinois went winless in its home tournament this past weekend, falling to DePaul, Xavier and Oklahoma. Five-time MAC Coach of the Year Ray Gooden is looking for a rebound season after his first sub-.500 record in nearly a decade last year. NIU middle Meg Wolowicz returns for her senior year after leading the Huskies with 110 blocks a year ago.
 
Boise State will head into Friday's tournament opener sitting at 2-0 after wins over Long Beach State and Portland State in Oregon over the weekend. The Broncos are coming off a 17-14 season that saw them qualify for the inaugural NIVC postseason tournament, falling in the opening round to Pacific.
 
UC Riverside sits at 2-1 after the opening weekend, claiming wins over Montana and Massachusetts Lowell before falling to Eastern Washington in UCR's home tournament. The Highlanders have made strides the last few seasons, finishing with 10 wins last year for just the second time since 2005.
 
After an opening weekend on the other side of the country, Idaho State started their 2018 campaign with a 2-2 mark. The Bengals fell to both host Georgia Tech and Georgetown on day one before taking down Winthrop and Abilene Christian to wrap up its opening tournament. ISU will continue its travels to Orem, Utah for a Tuesday match at Utah Valley before starting its home tournament Friday.
 
• Series History
This weekend's opponents have a mixed bag of history with Milwaukee. The Panthers have squared off against NIU 23 times in program history, including just last year. An MKE win Tuesday would even the all-time series at 12 wins apiece. Meanwhile, Milwaukee has faced its three weekend opponents a combined two times before, falling to Boise State back in 1992 and claiming a 3-2 win over Idaho State just last year.
 
• Homecoming
This weekend will be a special one for Milwaukee head coach Susie Johnson. One week after welcoming one of her former players back to the Klotsche Center now as a coach at another school, Johnson will make her first return trip to her alma mater as a coach. Johnson - then Susie Ketchum - was a standout setting for Idaho State from 1988-91, being named the Big Sky MVP in 1990.
 
• 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 491 total wins.
 
• Youth Movement
Susie Johnson will once again have 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 will look quite a bit different at the start of 2018 than they did at the end of last season.
 
• Block Party
Milwaukee had an impressive day at the net defensively Aug. 25. Going up against a Big Ten foe in Northwestern, the Panthers turned away Wildcat swings time and time again to the tune of 14 blocks. Not only was that an early season-high for MKE, it was marked improvement from a season ago in which the team tallied double-digit blocks just five times, reaching 14 or more blocks just once.
 
• Sophomore Stepping Up
After limited action as a freshman, Makenzie Mroczenski showed what one year in the Panther program can do for development. Going up against Big Ten foe Northwestern, the sophomore middle tallied career highs in kills (12), blocks (five) and digs (six) in just the third match of the 2018 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
The Panthers continue their month-long road swing next week, heading to Western Michigan's home tournament, starting Friday. MKE will go up against the host Broncos early Friday before taking on Canisius later in the day. Milwaukee wrap up the weekend taking on Utah State Saturday morning.
 
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Players Mentioned

Makenzie Mroczenski

#2 Makenzie Mroczenski

MB
6' 2"
Sophomore

Players Mentioned

Makenzie Mroczenski

#2 Makenzie Mroczenski

6' 2"
Sophomore
MB