MILWAUKEE, Wis. - Riding a six-match winning streak to start the Horizon League schedule, the Milwaukee volleyball team returns to the Klotsche Center where it will host five consecutive contests. This week, the Panthers begin with UIC on Tuesday, October 12 followed by Robert Morris on October 14 and Youngstown State on October 17.
 
The Milwaukee Athletic Department recently announced that fans will be allowed at all home events this year. In accordance with current Milwaukee Public Health and CDC recommendations, fans will be required to wear a face covering indoors, regardless of vaccination status.
 
SCOUTING THE COMPETITION
Most recently, UIC split its last weekend of play and sit at 8-9 overall with a 4-1 record in Horizon League action. The Flames opened 3-0 before a COVID-19 pause forced cancellation of contests against Wright State and Northern Kentucky.
 
Led by Martina Delucchi and Paola Santiago, UIC ranks third in the league in kills per set. The duo has been stellar for the Flames, each with over 200 kills apiece.
 
Robert Morris enters the week with an even 9-9 overall record and 2-4 mark in Horizon League play. The Colonials fell to Northern Kentucky last week but responded with a five-set win over Youngstown State.
 
RMU will bring one of the best serves to the Klotsche Center as the Colonials lead the league and rank second in the nation with 144 aces (2.09 per set). Emma Granger is an all-around threat for RMU as she is second on the team with 132 kills, first with a .264 attack percentage, first with 39 aces, and first with 74 blocks.
 
Youngstown State owns just one win in the Horizon League, a 3-1 triumph over IUPUI on October 3, but has solid pieces to compete including freshman Paula Gursching. The native of Germany leads the Horizon League with 3.90 kills per frame and is also averaging nearly 2.5 digs per set in her first year in addition to a team-high 32 aces.
 
Defensively, the Penguins are third in the league with 15.87 digs per set led by junior Reilly Seagroves at 4.38 per frame. Josi Broum, Lexie Beeke, and Gursching have each added over 150 digs for Youngstown State.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Milwaukee has owned the all-time series against UIC, winning 43 of 64 total contests. The Panthers have won three of the last four, but the Flames have had their fair share of success winning six in a row from 2016 to 2018.
 
In six all-time matchups against Robert Morris, MKE has been on the winning end of five against the Colonials. The Panthers have won the last four in a row over RMU dating back to 2011.
 
It has been all Milwaukee in the series against Youngstown State as the Panthers have topped the Penguins in 35 of 44 matches.  YSU won one in 2017 but MKE has won eight of the last nine.
 
WEEKLY WRAP UP
It was another impressive week for the Panthers as they worked a pair of 3-0 sweeps over Oakland and Cleveland State to remain as the Horizon League's only undefeated team at 6-0.
 
Milwaukee averaged 16.33 kills, 15.67 assists, and 16.67 digs per set in the victories. The trio of Carmen Heilemann, Madi Malone, and Ari Miller combined for 73 kills in the wins. Rylie Vaughn facilitated the offense with 83 assists (13.83/set) in addition to 24 digs (4.0/set).
 
BREAK OUT THE BROOMS
The Panthers have been on a roll and added two more sweeps to the season total. Milwaukee has swept three matches in Horizon League play and five total this season, already surpassing last year's total of four.
 
DOMINATING ON DEFENSE
Offense has been a key to the Panthers' success this year, but the defense has been picking it up as well. With 15.96 digs per set, Milwaukee ranks second in the Horizon League and 62nd in the nation.
 
In six Horizon League matches, MKE is up to 16.82 digs per set, which would rank 28th in NCAA Division I.
 
MKE is holding opponents to a league-best 11.68 kills per set while ranking second in opponent hitting percentage (.195) and assists per set (10.93).
 
Jess Grabowski currently sits third in the league with 4.36 digs per set while Rylie Vaughn is seventh at 4.0 digs per frame in league play.
 
SETTER SENSATION
Rylie Vaughn logged her third consecutive double-double in the win over Oakland, nearly another 20-20 match.
 
For the week, Vaughn dished out 83 assists to go with 24 digs and three service aces. Through six matches of Horizon League play, the senior leads the league in assists per set (11.91) and is seventh in digs (4.0/set) and aces (0.41/set).
 
Vaughn has 10 total double-doubles including two matches of at least 20 assists and 20 digs. She is tied for second in program history with five career 20-20 matches.
 
Additionally, Vaughn became the ninth player in program history to surpass 2,000 assists and is only two digs away from becoming the fifth member of the Milwaukee's 2,000-assist, 1,000-dig club, joining Katie Schneider ('96-99), Lindsey Spoden ('00-03), Kayla Price ('11-15), and Leanne Felsing ('04-07).
 
PLAYER OF THE YEAR CANDIDATE
Rinse and repeat for Ari Miller as she stacked two more impressive outings to build to her 2021 resume. The junior added 23 kills, three digs, three blocks, and a .419 attack percentage in the wins.
 
Miller put away 12 kills against Oakland and 11 more in the sweep of Cleveland State for her ninth straight match in double figures. In fact, she has reached at least 10 kills in all but one match. In that one match, she finished with nine kills and just one error.
 
Miller has hit as least .300 in 11 consecutive contests and is hitting a league-best .432 in Horizon League matches.
Overall, Miller leads the league in hitting percentage (.389) while ranking second in kills per set (3.80) and points per set (4.32). She is also 37th in the nation in attack percentage as well as 23rd in total kills (270) and 26th in total points (306.5).
 
In six weeks of volleyball, Miller has earned Horizon League Player of the Week three times.
 
HEILEMANN HAMMER
Fifth-year senior Carmen Heilemann added two more double-digit kill totals last week and has now reached at least 10 kills in nine straight contests. For the week, Heilemann put away a team-high 27 kills and hit .333.
 
She ranks third in the league in attack percentage this season (.315) and is 10th in kills per set (3.01) and points per set (3.40).
 
Heilemann is just two kills away from becoming the 17th Panther in program history to reach 1,000 for her career.
 
FRESHMAN PHENOM
Madi Malone continued to bolster her freshman campaign with 23 kills and 16 digs in the two sweeps last week. In Thursday's3-0 win over Oakland, Malone added 11 kills and eight digs. She followed that with 12 kills and eight more digs against Cleveland State.
 
The freshman has made quite an impact this season and ranks fifth in total kills (236) and seventh in total points (254.5) among the Horizon League.
 
CLICKING ON ALL CYLINDERS
The Panthers offense has been impressive so far this year and that continued in two victories this past week. Through 18 matches, MKE has recorded six contests with an attack percentage of at least .300, going 6-0 in those matches.
 
Milwaukee leads the Horizon League in hitting percentage (.256), kills per set (14.18), and assists per set (13.44).
 
The Panthers lead the nation in total assists (954) and are second overall in total kills (1,007).
 
THE GREAT GRABOWSKI
Jess Grabowski added 32 digs to her total and now has 1,680 for her career which puts her fourth all-time in program history. The senior is just 249 digs away from Lauren Felsing's school record of 1,929 digs per set which was set in 2009.
 
She is also just 21 away from surpassing Myanna Ruiz for third most in program history.
 
Grabowski currently owns the program's top digs per set mark of 4.85.
 
PRESEASON POLL
The Horizon League released the 2021 preseason poll on Wednesday afternoon and Milwaukee was predicted to finish fourth, voted by the league coaches.
 
The Panthers earned 94 total poll points. Two-time defending champions Wright State picked up nine of 11 first-place votes and 119 total points as they were predicted to finish on top. UIC, who finished 14-3 overall a season ago, edged Northern Kentucky by one poll point with 98 total. Both the Flames and Norse received one first-place vote.
 
CATCH ALL THE ACTION
Thanks to ESPN+, Milwaukee volleyball will be readily available for viewers. 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, 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 $6.99 a month (or $69.99 per year) and cancel at any time.
 
For road games, visit MKEPanthers.com for live coverage links.