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Women's Volleyball

Panthers Start Conference Play With Two Matches In Ohio

MKE looks to wrap up month-long road swing on a high note

MILWAUKEE – The month-long road swing wraps up this weekend for the Milwaukee volleyball team as they once again head out of town, this time to start conference play in southwestern Ohio. The Panthers will get their Horizon League slate underway Friday in Dayton, Ohio with a match against Wright State, followed by a Saturday early afternoon affair with Northern Kentucky.
 
• Scouting Notebook
Under the direction of first-year head coach Allie Matters, Wright State is off to one of its best starts in program history. Entering the weekend at 8-4, the Raiders own an impressive non-conference win over West Virginia, they swept Morehead State's home tournament and most recently finished second at Valparaiso's home tournament. Offensively, WSU ranks third in the league in hitting percentage, but their defense has been a big part of their early success as they rank first or second in opponent kills, digs, hitting percentage and assists.
 
The Norse head into conference play with their best non-conference record since joining the Horizon League, sitting at a league-best 8-3. NKU is currently on a six-match win streak, with their only three losses thus far coming at the hands of Notre Dame, Virginia and Nevada. Senior outside Haley Libs has been named the Horizon League's Offensive Player of the Week each of the last two weeks and is ranked second in the conference in kills/set (4.23) and fifth in hitting (.250) thus far. Northern Kentucky opens up its league play Friday night against Green Bay before Saturday's showdown with the Panthers.
 
• Series History
MKE owns a winning record against both of its upcoming weekend opponents. The Panthers are 4-2 all-time against the Horizon League's newest member. Milwaukee and Wright State have a much more storied history dating back to 1980, with MKE holding a 41-17 all-time edge in the series, including a 40-15 lead since Milwaukee moved to the Division-I level.
 
• Grabbing League Honors
Freshman Jess Grabowski was named the Horizon League's Defensive Player of the Week this past week after an awfully impressive showing at Bradley's home tournament. The first-year libero turned in her most complete weekend performance to date, averaging over seven digs per set in the three-match tournament, including racking up 28 in a three-setter against the host Braves.
 
• 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 492 total wins.
 
• 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 will look quite a bit different 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 so far. Five freshmen were in the starting lineup for the first serve of the season, something that has largely remained unchanged through the first 13 matches of the year.
 
• Sophomores Stepping Up
A pair of sophomore middles have shown what one year in the Panther program can do for development.
 
Going up against up against Big Ten foe Northwestern, Makenzie Mroczenski tallied career highs in kills (12), blocks (five) and digs (six) in just the third match of the 2018 season. Then, less than one week later, Mroczenski racked up 16 kills while hitting a career-best .382 at the net to go with eight blocks against Boise State.
 
Then, just last weekend, Carmen Heilemann put together a career-best performance in the win over Eastern Illinois, hitting .417 with 13 kills to go with a pair of blocks. She followed that up with another 10 kills the following day in a three-setter against Bradley.
 
• 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 weekend with 191 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
After a full month on the road that saw trips to Idaho, Michigan, Ohio and two stops in Illinois, the Panthers finally return to the Klotsche Center next weekend for a pair of conference matches. Milwaukee plays host to UIC before taking on in-state rival Green Bay Saturday afternoon.
 
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Players Mentioned

Carmen Heilemann

#4 Carmen Heilemann

MB
6' 0"
Sophomore
Makenzie Mroczenski

#2 Makenzie Mroczenski

MB
6' 2"
Sophomore
Jess Grabowski

#12 Jess Grabowski

DS
5' 4"
Freshman

Players Mentioned

Carmen Heilemann

#4 Carmen Heilemann

6' 0"
Sophomore
MB
Makenzie Mroczenski

#2 Makenzie Mroczenski

6' 2"
Sophomore
MB
Jess Grabowski

#12 Jess Grabowski

5' 4"
Freshman
DS