MILWAUKEE, Wis. With two more victories last week, the Milwaukee volleyball team moved to 11-0 in Horizon League action but focus shifts to three important matches this week. The Panthers head to Green Bay on Monday before taking on Northern Kentucky and preseason favorites Wright State on Thursday and Friday, respectively.
 
SCOUTING THE COMPETITION
Green Bay picked up three wins in the last four matches including a 3-0 sweep over IUPUI on Sunday to move to 6-5 in Horizon League play and 11-12 overall.
 
The Phoenix are middle of the pack in most statistical categories but rank third in the league in aces, averaging 1.79 per set. Alexandra Zakutney is a focal point of the offense, leading the team with 271 kills and 37 aces. The defense is led by Abby Gardner and Callie Gentry with 291 and 211 digs apiece, respectively.
 
Northern Kentucky rattled off seven straight wins before suffering a five-set loss to Wright State. NKU currently sits tied for second with an 8-2 Horizon League mark. The Norse rank second in the league in hitting percentage at .268 and fourth in kills (13.49 per set).
 
Abby Kanakry and Reilly Briggs have been a solid one-two punch for NKU, hitting .347 and .330, respectively. Kanakry has 77 kills in league play while Briggs has put away 119. Anna Brinkman has totaled a team-high 257 kills and 22 aces this year while ranking second with 225 digs.
 
With a 3-2 win over NKU, Wright State notched its eighth straight win and moved into a tie for second place trailing only Milwaukee. The Raiders have a even offense with four different players averaging over 2.0 kills per set led by Megan Alders' 2.54.
 
Jenna Story is the Raiders' anchor on defense, leading the team and the league with 5.88 digs per set. Setter Lainey Stephenson is averaging 10.37 assists and 3.54 digs per frame in Horizon League play.
 
SERIES HISTORY
With five consecutive wins over Green Bay, the Panthers have improved their all-time mark to 49-21 against the Phoenix. Prior to those five contests, GB had the edge, winning eight straight against MKE.
 
The Panthers evened up the all-time series 7-7 following their 3-1 win over Northern Kentucky from earlier this season. MKE has struggled in Highland Heights, going just 1-6 against the Norse on the road.
 
Milwaukee has dominated the overall series against Wright State, with a 44-18 record, but the Raiders have entered this season with three straight sweeps against MKE prior to the Panthers' five-set win earlier this season.
 
WEEKLY WRAP UP
The Panthers pushed their winning streak to 11 with two more sweeps, taking down Purdue Fort Wayne and IUPUI. MKE sits alone on top of the Horizon League with an 11-0 record.
 
MKE was efficient, hitting .378 for the week while holding opponents to just 8.5 kills per set and a .047 attack percentage.
 
HOW 'BOUT THAT HOMESTAND?
Milwaukee wrapped up its five-match homestand on Friday with a perfect 5-0 record and put up numbers in doing so. In the five wins, the Panthers averaged 13.63 kills, 12.81 assists, 14.56 digs, 2.06 blocks, and 2.69 aces per set while hitting .342 and holding opponents to a .087 attack percentage. 
 
BREAK OUT THE BROOMS
With two more sweeps, the Panthers have now won six of the last seven matches by 3-0 scores. MKE has seven sweeps in Horizon League play and nine total this season, already doubling last year's total of four.
 
NO HOLDING BACK
Not only have the Panthers won four consecutive sweeps, but they did so in impressive fashion. Milwaukee has knocked off its opponent in 65 minutes or less in each of those four contests.
 
In three of the four matches, Milwaukee has 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 11, the longest since 2019 when the Panthers won 15 consecutive contests from September 6 to October 11. MKE's 11-0 Horizon League start is the best since 2011. That season, the Panthers finished a perfect 16-0 in Horizon League to be crowned 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 (1,187) and assists (1,122). The Panthers are also 26th in attack percentage at .265. That number would rank second all-time in program history. 
 
Through 23 matches, MKE has recorded 10 contests with an attack percentage of at least .300, going 10-0 in those matches.
 
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 51 total kills (8.5 per set) as they totaled 82 digs (13.67 per set).
 
Milwaukee ranks second in the league in digs per set (15.81) and opponent hitting percentage (.182). The Panthers' 1,328 digs rank 9th in all of NCAA Division I. In the last 11 matches, opponents have reached a .200 hitting percentage just twice.
 
MKE is holding opponents to a league-best 11.16 kills per set and 10.47 assists per set.
 
Jess Grabowski currently sits fifth in the league with 3.95 digs per set while Rylie Vaughn is seventh at 3.66 digs per frame in league play.
 
HEILEMANN HAMMER
Fifth-year senior Carmen Heilemann is on pace for a career-year this season, hitting .333 with 3.06 kills, 1.07 digs, and 0.48 blocks per set through 21 matches.
 
She currently ranks third in the league in attack percentage this season (.362) and is fourth in kills per set (3.50) and third in points per set (4.34).
 
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
Ari Miller had another solid week to add to her resume, totaling 14 kills, eight blocks, four digs, and four aces while hitting .385 in a pair of wins.
 
Through 11 matches of the league schedule, Miller leads the league in hitting percentage (.433), and is second in kills per set (3.84), and points per set (4.57).
 
She has at least 10 kills in 19 of 23 matches this year and has hit over .300 18 times. 
 
Among NCAA Division I, Miller is 34th in overall hitting percentage (.394), 18th in total kills (313), and 14th in total points (361.5).
 
Miller has earned Horizon League Player of the Week three times.
 
THE GREAT GRABOWSKI
Jess Grabowski added 18 digs to her total and now has 1,734 which surpasses Myanna Ruiz for third on the program's career digs list. The senior is just 195 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.