MILWAUKEE, Wis. - Midway through the Horizon League schedule, the Milwaukee volleyball team sits atop the league with a perfect 9-0 record. The Panthers look to continue their winning streak with two more home matches this week as Milwaukee hosts Purdue Fort Wayne on October 21 and IUPUI on October 22.
 
SCOUTING THE COMPETITION
Since Milwaukee and Purdue Fort Wayne last met, the Mastodons are 3-5 with wins over Robert Morris, Youngstown State, and Cleveland State. PFW most recently dropped a 3-1 decision to IUPUI on October 15.
 
The Mastodons are near the middle of the pack in nearly all Horizon League offensive stats but have been solid on the block, averaging 2.4 per set in league play. Last year's Horizon League Player of the Year, Katie Crowe, is once again pacing the way for PFW, averaging 3.42 kills per set to go with 214 digs, which ranks second on the team.
 
IUPUI earned its first Horizon League victory last Friday, taking down Purdue Fort Wayne 3-1. Offense has struggled for the Jaguars as they are 11th in the Horizon League in attack percentage (.116) and kills per set (10.69).
 
Sophomore setter Brooke Phillips has had a solid year thus far as she is fourth in the league with an average of 8.32 assists per set and fourth in aces per set (0.43). Rhiannon Schuenemann and Addie Evans each have over 200 digs for IUPUI.
 
SERIES HISTORY
In six all-time matchups against Purdue Fort Wayne, MKE has been on the winning end of five against the Mastodons. The Panthers have won the last four in a row over PFW dating back to 2011. The Panthers and Mastodons have met just one time in Milwaukee with MKE earning a 3-0 win in 2002.
 
The Panthers have won three straight against IUPUI to bring their overall record against the Jaguars to 7-3. Of the seven wins, four have come via 3-0 sweeps.
 
WEEKLY WRAP UP
The Panthers pushed their winning streak to nine with sweeps of Robert Morris and Youngstown State which moved Milwaukee to 9-0 in Horizon League action.
 
MKE was efficient, hitting .359 for the week while holding opponents to just 6.5 kills per set and a .035 attack percentage.
 
BREAK OUT THE BROOMS
With two more sweeps, the Panthers have now won four of the last five matches by 3-0 scores. MKE has five sweeps in Horizon League play and seven total this season, already surpassing last year's total of four. In 2019, Milwaukee totaled six Horizon League sweeps.
 
NO HOLDING BACK
Not only did the Panthers sweep back-to-back matches last week, they did it in impressive fashion, finishing both contests in just 63 minutes. In both matches, Milwaukee held the opponent to under 10 points in at least one set.
 
The last time the Panthers held an opponent under 10 points in a set that was not the fifth was against UIC on November 15, 2019. MKE took a 25-9 win in the first set against the Flames.
 
WE'RE STREAKING!
With the wins last week, Milwaukee pushed its winning streak to nine, the longest since 2019 when the Panthers won 15 consecutive contests from September 6 to October 11. MKE's 9-0 Horizon League start is the best since 2013 when the Panthers also started 9-0. That season, Milwaukee lost the 10th league contest but finished 12-2 and was crowned Horizon League regular season champions.
 
CLICKING ON ALL CYLINDERS
Offense has been a big reason for the Panthers' success this season and their national rankings can back that up.
 
Milwaukee leads the nation in total kills (1,148) and assists (1,086). The Panthers are also 28th in attack percentage at .263. That number would rank second all-time in program history. 
 
Through 21 matches, MKE has recorded eight contests with an attack percentage of at least .300, going 8-0 in those matches. That matches the most since 2013 when the Panthers had eight contests with an attack percentage of at least .300. 
 
DOMINATING ON DEFENSE
Offense has been a major key for the Panthers, but the defense has been right there as well. In two matches last week, Milwaukee held opponents to just 39 total kills (6.5 per set) as they totaled 89 digs (14.83 per set).
 
Milwaukee ranks second in the league in digs per set (15.85) and opponent hitting percentage (.186). The Panthers' 1,284 digs rank 14th in all of NCAA Division I. In the last nine matches, opponents have reached a .200 hitting percentage just twice.
 
MKE is holding opponents to a league-best 11.36 kills per set and 10.67 assists per set.
 
Jess Grabowski currently sits fourth in the league with 4.13 digs per set while Rylie Vaughn is eighth at 3.88 digs per frame in league play.
 
HEILEMANN HAMMER
Fifth-year senior Carmen Heilemann is on pace for a career-year this season, hitting .324 with 3.05 kills, 1.04 digs, and 0.46 blocks per set through 21 matches.
 
Last week, Heilemann had an impressive all-around performance with 20 kills, 15 digs, five blocks, and six aces in the two sweeps.
 
She currently ranks second in the league in attack percentage this season (.324) and is 10th in kills per set (3.05) and points per set (3.54).
 
In the win over UIC on October 12, Heilemann became just the 17th player in program history to reach 1,000 career kills.
 
SETTER SENSATION
With 19 digs in the 3-1 win over UIC on October 12, Rylie Vaughn reached 1,000 for her career, becoming just the fifth player in program history to do so.
 
Vaughn has been on fire since league play began and leads the league in assists per set (11.59), is eighth in digs per set (3.88), and third in aces per set (0.50) midway through the Horizon League schedule.
 
The senior has logged 12 double-doubles this season including a pair of 20-20 matches. She is tied for second in program history with five career 20-20 matches.
 
PLAYER OF THE YEAR CANDIDATE
In the win over Youngstown State, Ari Miller was held to under .300 hitting for the first time since September 10, but still put up incredible numbers yet again.
 
The junior totaled 19 kills, five blocks, and three digs with a .394 attack percentage in two wins last week.
 
Midway through the league schedule, Miller leads the league in hitting percentage (.438), kills per set (4.13), and points per set (4.70).
 
She has at least 10 kills in 19 of 21 matches this year and has hit over .300 17 times. 
 
Among NCAA Division I, Miller is 30th in overall hitting percentage (.396), 17th in total kills (308), and 18th in total points (351).
 
Miller has earned Horizon League Player of the Week three times.
 
FRESHMAN PHENOM
It was another solid week for freshman Madi Malone as she added 16 kills, 10 digs, and three aces while hitting .343 in two sweeps. Malone put away six kills against RMU and closed the week with 10 kills on .381 hitting against Youngstown State.
 
The freshman has made quite an impact this season and leads all freshman in kills (3.63/set) and points (3.95/set) in league play.
 
THE GREAT GRABOWSKI
Jess Grabowski added 20 digs to her total and now has 1,716 which surpasses Myanna Ruiz for third on the program's career digs list. The senior is just 213 digs away from Lauren Felsing's school record of 1,929 digs per set, which was set in 2009.
 
Grabowski currently owns the program's top digs per set mark of 4.82.
 
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.