MILWAUKEE, Wis. - The Milwaukee volleyball team returns to the road this week, heading to Michigan to face Oakland on Thursday, October 7. The Panthers then trek to Cleveland State to face the Vikings the following evening.
 
MKE remained undefeated in Horizon League action with two big wins over Northern Kentucky and preseason favorite Wright State.  The 4-0 start marks the sixth time the Panthers won their first four games in conference action under Susie Johnson.
 
Per Oakland University guidelines, masking is mandatory indoors for all campus community members and guests regardless of vaccination status. All fans attending home matches inside Woodling Gymnasium at CSU during the 2021 season are required to wear a mask at all times, regardless of vaccination status.
 
SCOUTING THE COMPETITION
Oakland, who was predicted to place seventh in the Horizon League preseason poll, earned three straight wins to start league play before falling 3-0 to Cleveland State.
 
The Golden Grizzlies have limited errors this season and rank second in the league with a .223 attack percentage. Graduate student Jamie Walling has been the offensive leader for Oakland, leading the team with 182 kills and a .253 attack percentage. Senior Lindsay Wightman has led the defense and ranks second in the league with 5.50 digs per set.
 
Despite struggling in the non-conference schedule with a 2-9 record, Cleveland State has come out strong in Horizon League play, winning its first four games including three sweeps. The Vikings have taken down Robert Morris, Youngtown State, IUPUI, and Oakland.
 
Overall, the Vikings are near the bottom of the league rankings in most statistical categories but through two weeks of Horizon League play, CSU is second in attack percentage (.263), third in assists (12.36), and third in kills (13.14). Sophomore Abby Miller has done it all for the Vikings, averaging 7.98 assists, 2.17 digs, and 1.07 kills per frame.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Milwaukee has won two in a row against Oakland to move to 9-9 in the all-time series. The Panthers handed the Golden Grizzlies two sweeps a season ago.
 
The Panthers have dominated the all-time series against Cleveland State 46-20 but the Vikings have given Milwaukee some recent trouble. Dating back to 2014, CSU has won 10 of 14 against the Panthers.
 
COMEBACK KIDS
Remarkably, Friday's 3-2 victory over Wright State was not the first time this season that the Panthers fell behind 2-0 and rallied to win. Earlier this season, Western Michigan pulled in front of Milwaukee 2-0 before the Panthers won the final three sets to claim a victory.
 
PUTTIN' THE LEAGUE ON NOTICE
It was a big week for Milwaukee who earned victories over two of the Horizon League's top teams. The Panthers dispatched Northern Kentucky 3-1 on Thursday and followed with a 3-2 comeback win over defending champion and preseason favorite Wright State. 
 
FRESHMAN PHENOM
Freshman Madi Malone continued to impress and helped lead the Panthers to the two wins last week. Malone totaled 40 kills (4.44 per set) and 26 digs (2.89 per set) while hitting .299.
 
In Thursday's victory over the Norse, Malone recorded a double-double of 11 kills and 12 digs. She followed that with another double-double, her seventh of the season, on Friday, totaling a career-high 29 kills to go with 14 digs. Malone shouldered the load early, totaling 21 kills in the first three sets. The 29 total kills are the third most for a five-set match in program history, trailing Jamie Gabrielsen's 31 from 2007 and Ari Miller's 30 from earlier this season.
 
The freshman has made quite an impact this season and ranks third in total kills (213) and fifth in total points (231) among the Horizon League.
 
SETTER SENSATION
Heading into this season, Rylie Vaughn had three 20-20 matches for her career. This week, the senior setter added two more and is now tied for second in program history with five.
 
Vaughn was outstanding against NKU and WSU, totaling 108 assists (12.0/set) and 44 digs (4.89/set). In the win over the Norse, Vaughn totaled 48 assists and 21 digs. She followed that with a career-high 60 assists and also matched her career-high of 23 digs in the 3-2 win over the Raiders. The 108 assists across two matches is the most for any Panther since Jenn Dore recorded 117 on October 20-21, 2017.
 
Through four Horizon League matches, Vaughn leads the league in assists per set (11.19) and ranks fifth in digs per frame (4.0).
 
Vaughn became the ninth player in program history to surpass 2,000 assists. She is also only 26 digs away from 1,000 digs which would make her the fifth member of 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
Ari Miller had another resume-building week as she totaled 39 kills with a .468 attack percentage.
 
Miller put away 19 kills with a 19-1-30 (.600) line against NKU and followed with 20 kills in the five-set win over Wright State.
 
The junior has at least 10 kills in 15 of 16 matches this season and leads the Horizon League with a .386 attack percentage while ranking second in kills per set (3.80) and points per set (4.31). Miller also ranks 39th in NCAA Division I in attack percentage, 18th in total points (280), and 20th in total kills (247).
 
In five weeks of volleyball, Miller has earned Horizon League Player of the Week three times.
 
CARMEN IN THE CLUTCH
Fifth-year senior Carmen Heilemann played a huge role in helping the Panthers take down Northern Kentucky and Wright State. Against the Norse, Heilemann put away a season-high 20 kills with a .389 attack percentage. On Friday, she recorded her second double-double this season with 11 kills and 11 digs.
 
Heilemann has reached at least 10 kills in 12 of the 15 matches she's played in this season and is hitting .312 this season which is a career-high and ranks third in the Horizon League.
 
CLICKING ON ALL CYLINDERS
The Panthers offense has been impressive so far this year and that continued at home in two victories this past week. Through 16 matches, MKE has recorded five contests with an attack percentage of at least .300, going 5-0 in those matches.
 
Milwaukee leads the Horizon League in hitting percentage (.250), kills per set (13.98), and assists per set (13.23).
 
The Panthers lead the nation in total assists (860) and are third overall in total kills (909).
 
THE GREAT GRABOWSKI
Jess Grabowski added 30 digs to her total and now has 1,648 for her career which puts her fourth all-time in program history. The senior is just 281 digs away from Lauren Felsing's school record of 1,929 digs per set which was set in 2009.
 
She is also just 53 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.