MILWAUKEE, Wis. - The Milwaukee volleyball team hits the road for the first time this season as it travels to South Bend, Indiana for another packed tournament. The Panthers face Cincinnati on Friday followed by Bowling Green on Saturday and hosts Notre Dame on Sunday. 
 
In early August, Notre Dame announced that all tickets to regular season volleyball matches will be free for all attendees for the 2021-22 season. All visitors to campus, regardless of vaccination status, are expected to wear masks inside all campus buildings (except when eating or drinking).
 
SCOUTING THE COMPETITION
Cincinnati opened the season at the Dayton Tournament and came away with a victory against Texas State, who was receiving votes in the AVCA Top-25 Coaches Poll. The Bearcats fell to (RV) Dayton and No. 3 Kentucky in the opening invite.
 
Madison Waters, who led the team with 112 kills, is back for her junior season along with senior Maria Mallon, who led the team in kills per set (3.35) and earned Second Team All-ACC honors. Adria Oliver is also back for the Bearcats after a Second Team All-AAC nod behind a team-high 29 blocks and 95 kills, which ranked second for Cincinnati.
 
Bowling Green picked up one win at the Top Dawg Challenge, defeating Butler 3-1 on August 27. The win also marked head coach Danijela Tomic's 150th with the Falcons.
 
BGSU was predicted to finish first in the Mid-American Conference East Division after earning 12 first-place votes. Three Falcons were named preseason first-team All-MAC. Seniors Hanna Laube and Katelyn Meyer were selected, as was junior Petra Indrova. The trio earned first-team All-MAC honors last season, with Laube being recognized as MAC Co-Setter of the Year.
 
Notre Dame, who is receiving votes in this week's AVCA Top-25 Coaches Poll, picked up a pair of wins at its home Golden Dome Invitational after dropping the opener to No. 16 Western Kentucky.
 
After earning their 21st berth in the NCAA Tournament a season ago, the Irish were tabbed fourth in the ACC Preseason Coaches Poll behind Pitt, Louisville, and Georgia Tech.
 
Aubrey Hamilton and Charley Niego were both named to the All-Tournament team this past weekend. Hamilton paced the Irish with 36 kills while Niego recorded 33 kills, 28 digs, and six blocks.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Cincinnati has won six of the eight all-time matchups against Milwaukee including the most recent contest in 2017. Both of the Panthers wins over the Bearcats were in five sets.
 
Milwaukee and Bowling Green have met just one time with the Panthers earning a 3-0 sweep in 2013.
 
Sunday marks the first matchup for Notre Dame and Milwaukee since 2002. Both all-time meetings have been in South Bend with the Irish taking a pair of 3-0 sweeps against the Panthers.
 
DOMINATING UP FRONT
At the home Panther Invite, Ari Miller was unstoppable as she finished with 51 kills (4.25 per set) and a .402 attack percentage in three matches. The junior also added 11 blocks on the defensive end. In the season opener, Miller totaled 13 kills in 23 swings, hitting .478. She followed with back-to-back 19-kill performances against UC Santa Barbara and Valparaiso.
 
FRESHMAN IMPACT
All three newcomers made their collegiate debuts this past weekend at the Panther Invite. Madi Malone started all three contests and totaled 21 kills and 27 digs. Against UC Santa Barbara, Malone recorded 10 kills while hitting .360 and added nine digs. She reached double figure digs the following match with 12. Bri Guerts had an impressive outing against Valparaiso, putting away 12 kills at a .375 clip. The De Pere, Wis. native added four blocks. Tatum Catalano saw her first collegiate action against Illinois and had a pair of blocks to go with one kill.
 
BLOCK PARTY
The Panthers' front line was tough in the opening tournament, totaling 2.0 blocks per set (24 total), which leads the Horizon League. Ari Miller and Bri Geurts each recorded 11 blocks to pace the Panthers.
 
HAMMERIN' HEILEMANN
Despite missing the season opener, Carmen Heilemann racked up the numbers at the Panther Invite. The fifth-year senior totaled 23 kills, 10 digs, and four blocks in two matches. After recorded nine kills with a .400 attack percentage and seven digs against UCSB, Heilemann added 14 kills with a .333 hitting percentage and four blocks against Valpo on Sunday.
 
ROAD WARRIORS
This weekend, Milwaukee begins its stretch of 11 consecutive matches on the road, nine of which are at non-conference tournaments. The last time the Panthers had weekend road tournaments was in 2019 when MKE went 8-1, winning three of the early-season events.
 
The Panthers will host just one road game in September as they take on Northern Kentucky on Thursday, September 30.
 
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.
 
CLIMBING THE CAREER RECORDS
Several Panthers have seen their names climb the record books over the last few years and the top spot could be in reach.
 
Jess Grabowski currently sits fifth in program history with 1,428 digs, just 501 away from Lauren Felsing's mark of 1,929 from 2006-09. Grabowski owns the Panthers' career best digs per set number of 5.0.
 
Senior Rylie Vaughn opened the season with 1,607 career assists putting her 10th all-time in Milwaukee program history. At her current pace, the junior has a chance to become the ninth player in school history to record at least 2,000 career assists.
 
In just two seasons, Ari Miller has put her mark on the record book with 2.88 kills per set and an attack percentage of .298, both of which rank top 10 in program history. Miller has 535 kills in 49 matches at Milwaukee.
 
RETURNING FIREPOWER
The Panthers graduated two seniors and have all sorts of experience returning for 2021. The 12 returners all saw at least some action last season including five who appeared in all 49 sets. 
 
Carmen Heilemann, a 2019 All-League honoree, returns for her fifth year while two-time First Team All-League member Ari Miller begins her junior season. Jess Grabowski gears up for her fourth season with the Panthers while the setter team of Rylie Vaughn and Kaley Blake will run the offense once again.
 
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.
 
Follow along this season with the Panthers on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram as well as the web at MKEPanthers.com.