MILWAUKEE, Wis. – The Milwaukee volleyball team hosts its final two matches of the regular season this week, taking on Cleveland State on Thursday before welcoming Oakland to the Klotsche Center on Sunday for Senior Day. This year, the Panthers will celebrate six seniors in Carmen Heilemann, Lauren Spaulding, Kleja Cerniauskaite, Jess Grabowski, Rylie Vaughn, and Abby Koenen.
 
Although the Milwaukee volleyball team had its 12-match winning streak snapped last week, the Panthers are still in control of the Horizon League standings with a 12-2 record.
 
SCOUTING THE COMPETITION
Cleveland State has won two of its last three matchups but most recently dropped a five-set thriller to Oakland on October 29 and sit at 6-7 in Horizon League play.
 
The Vikings are a relatively young team with just two seniors, each of which average over 2.0 kills per set. London Portis (2.61) and Erica Kostelac (2.0) are second and third on the team in kills per frame while junior Peyton Bloomer leads the way with a mark of 2.64 kills per set. Defensively, Audrey McConihe has totaled 337 digs this year to lead CSU.
 
Oakland has proven to be on the of the better defensive teams in the Horizon League, ranking second in digs per set (15.96) and opponent hitting percentage (.186). That defense is anchored by two-time Horizon League Player of the Week Lindsay Wightman, who ranks second in the league at 5.34 digs per set.
 
The Golden Grizzlies bring a solid offensive approach as well with Jamie Walling and Patti Cesarini each totaling over 240 kills this year. Jessica Riedl (187 kills) and Brittany Welch (161 kills) also provide a punch.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Milwaukee topped Cleveland State 3-0 earlier this season to improve its all-time record against the Vikings to 47-20. The Panthers have won four of the last five matchups and are 24-7 at home against CSU.
 
Thanks to three straight wins over Oakland, Milwaukee is 10-9 all-time against the Golden Grizzlies. MKE has won six of the nine matchups at home including back-to-back sweeps at the Klotsche Center.
 
WEEKLY WRAP UP
The Panthers knocked off Green Bay 3-1 on Monday to stretch their winning streak to 12 but fell to Northern Kentucky and Wright State in consecutive contests on Thursday and Friday.
 
MKE was held under .240 hitting in consecutive matches for the first time since September 4-5 against Bowling Green and Notre Dame.
 
CONTROL THEIR OWN DESTINY
Despite dropping two matches, Milwaukee is still in control of the Horizon League with just four contests remaining on the regular season schedule. The Panthers sit at 12-2 in the Horizon League, one win ahead of Northern Kentucky (11-2). If MKE would win out, the Panthers would clinch their 14th regular season title and first since 2013.
 
After hosting Cleveland State (6-7) and Oakland (9-4), Milwaukee hits the road to face Robert Morris (2-12) and Youngstown State (2-12).
 
HEILEMANN HAMMER
It was yet another impressive week for Carmen Heilemann, who is putting together a career year. Fresh of a Horizon League Player of the Week honor on October 27, the fifth-year senior averaged 4.09 kills, 1.09 digs, and 0.73 blocks while hitting .330 for Milwaukee.
 
Heilemann has over 300 kills this season for the second time in her career. Her 3.18 kills per set and .332 attack percentage are both career-best marks. Heilemann has also totaled 26 aces and 102 digs this season, both career-bests. With 48 blocks, she is just four short of another career-best.
 
In league play, Heilemann currently ranks third in attack percentage (.354), fourth in kills per set (3.63), first in service aces (0.51), and second in points per set (4.44).
 
In the win over UIC on October 12, Heilemann became just the 17th player in program history to reach 1,000 career kills.
 
HAPPY TO BE HOME
The Panthers are no doubt happy to be back at the Klotsche Center where they've won seven consecutive matches. In 10 matches, the Panthers are averaging 13.65 kills, 12.86 assists, and 15.11 digs per set with a .269 attack percentage.
 
In the most recent five-match homestand, the Panthers went a perfect 5-0 and 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. 
 
Milwaukee is 161-47 (.774) at home against league opponents since 1990. With just two regular season home matches left, the Panthers clinched another overall winning home record, their 24th in the last 32 seasons.
 
NO HOLDING BACK
From October 14 to October 22, not only did the Panthers notch 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.
 
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 (1,383) and assists (1,309). The Panthers are also 28th in attack percentage at .266. That number would rank second all-time in program history. 
 
Through 26 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.
 
Milwaukee ranks third in the league in digs per set (15.57) and opponent hitting percentage (.190). The Panthers' 1,328 digs rank 17th in all of NCAA Division I. MKE has held the opposition to a hitting percentage under .200 on 14 different occasions.
 
MKE is holding opponents to a league-best 11.64 kills per set and 10.90 assists per set.
 
Jess Grabowski currently sits fourth in the league with 4.18 digs.
 
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 (11.51), is seventh in aces per set (0.37), and is also averaging 3.37 digs per frame with just four matches remaining.
 
The senior has logged 14 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 showed she was human last week, as Wright State held her to just eight kills, but the junior has still put together a Player of the Year caliber season.
 
Through 14 matches of the league schedule, Miller leads the league in hitting percentage (.391) and is third in kills per set (3.67), and points per set (4.30).
 
She has at least 10 kills in 21 of 26 matches this year and has hit over .300 20 times. 
 
Among NCAA Division I, Miller is 43rd in overall hitting percentage (.379), 31st in total kills (356), and 25th in total points (411.0).
 
Miller has earned Horizon League Player of the Week four times.
 
THE GREAT GRABOWSKI
Jess Grabowski added 50 digs to her total last week and now has 1,784 which surpasses Myanna Ruiz for third on the program's career digs list. The senior is just 145 digs away from Lauren Felsing's school record of 1,929 digs per set, which was set in 2009. She is also just 92 digs away from surpassing Becky Peters' mark for second on the program record list.
 
Grabowski currently owns the program's top digs per set mark of 4.78.
 
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.