MILWAUKEE, Wis. – The Milwaukee volleyball team opens up November with week of three important matches as the Panthers look to improve Horizon League seed for the tournament which begins on November 18.
 
The Panthers cap a homestand with Purdue Fort Wayne on Tuesday before heading to Oakland on Cleveland State this weekend. All three matches will be carried on ESPN+ with Matt Menzl on the call against the Mastodons. Each match will have live stats with all coverage links available on MKEPanthers.com.
 
SCOUTING THE COMPETITION
Purdue Fort Wayne earned a 3-1 win over Robert Morris on Saturday and has won two of the last three contests to move to 4-9 in Horizon League action.
 
The Mastodons are led by Sidney Schiller and Iris Riegel offensively, each with over 250 kills. On the defensive end, Rachael Crucis earned her first Horizon League Player of the Week award on October 26, racking up 6.75 digs per set. The senior ranks fourth in the league with 4.66 digs per frame in league action.
 
Oakland has dropped four straight matches and now sits in seventh in the league standings at 5-8. The Golden Grizzlies are near the bottom of the league in most statistical categories but lead in digs with 18.24 per set.
 
Much of that credit goes to Emily Wichmann, who is pacing the team with 5.45 digs per set, a league-best mark. Wichmann is also tied for the team lead with 23 service aces. Patti Cesarini has carried the offense, leading the team and ranking third in the Horizon League with 3.73 kills per frame. The redshirt sophomore is fourth in the league with 4.06 points per contest.
 
Cleveland State picked up a 3-0 sweep of Oakland on Saturday to move to 6-7 in league play, good enough for fifth in the standings. Defense has been strong for the Vikings, ranking second in the league in blocks (2.40 per set) and third in digs (17.06 per set).
 
Freshman Laken Voss has been terrific for Cleveland State, leading the team with 305 kills and ranking fourth with 217 digs. Voss also has 22 aces and 45 blocks this season.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Milwaukee has rattled off six straight wins against Purdue Fort Wayne to improve to 7-1 overall. MKE is 2-0 at home against the Mastodons and have lost just three sets in the last six matchups.
 
The Panthers are now 12-9 against Oakland after winning each of the last five contests. The Golden Grizzlies hold a 5-4 edge on their home court but MKE did win the last matchup in Rochester last season.
 
MKE has dominated the overall series with Cleveland State, holding a 49-20 record. The Panthers have swept the last three matchups and won six of the last seven. CSU did win nine in a row from 2014 to 2018, but the Vikings have triumphed over MKE just once since then.
 
LOOKING AT THE LEAGUE
The top six in the league standings advance to the Horizon League Championships, which begin on November 18 and is hosted by the overall No. 1 seed.
 
Milwaukee currently sits in fourth place and is three matches back of No. 3 Green Bay. The Panthers hold a half match edge on Cleveland State and are a full match ahead of Youngstown State with four to play in the regular season.
 
HOME SWEET HOME
Despite having a 16-match home winning streak against league opponents snapped last weekend, the Panthers have still put up strong numbers at the Klotsche Center.
 
Since 1990, MKE is 271-114 (.707) overall at the Klotsche Center and 167-49 against league opponents on its home floor.
 
The 16 straight wins over the Horizon League at home marks the longest undefeated streak since 2008 when Milwaukee recorded its fifth straight perfect home league schedule. From 2004-08, MKE won 36 consecutive home matchups against league opponents.
 
GO OFF, GEURTS
Bri Geurts has put together a career-year so far with still four matches left in the regular season. The sophomore has hit at least .300 in six straight matches and seven of the last eight.
 
Geurts has set new career highs across the board with 166 kills, a .292 attack percentage, 11 aces, 44 digs, and 79 blocks.
 
Over the last six contests, Geurts has piled up 52 kills at a .380 clip and has added 22 blocks.
 
GETTING IN THE GROOVE
Madi Malone reached the 20-kill mark for the second time this season, putting up 20 against Northern Kentucky on Friday. The sophomore hit .333 and added eight digs against the Norse.
 
Over the last six matches, Malone has piled up 73 kills, 64 digs, and two aces.
 
FRESHMAN PHENOM
Natalie Schmitz has been a huge impact for the Panthers' offense this year and ranks second on the team with 242 kills and third with a .219 attack percentage.
 
Schmitz has at least 10 kills in four of the last five contests including 15 on October 21 against Robert Morris which matched a career high at MKE.
 
BLOCK PARTY
In the win over Oakland on October, 8 Bri Geurts racked up a career-high nine blocks. As a team, Milwaukee recorded 10 blocks, its ninth match this season with double figure stuffs. It marks the most matches with at least 10 blocks since 2016 when Milwaukee had 15 double-figure outputs.
 
The Panthers currently rank fourth in the league with 2.34 blocks per set in league play.
 
YEAR 50
This year marks the 50th season of Milwaukee volleyball. Susie Johnson has been on the bench for more than half that time, spending 10 seasons as an assistant coach and embarking on her 16th at the helm this year. Johnson is just 10 victories away from surpassing Kathy Litzau for the most NCAA Division I wins in program history (271).
 
As a program since inception in 1973, the Panthers have claimed 14 league championships and have been to 10 NCAA Tournaments. Milwaukee volleyball also has 21 Bud K. Haidet Hall of Famers, 12 All-Americans, 11 league players of the year, and much more in its history.
 
MAKING IMMEDIATE IMPACT
Natalie Schmitz is not the only freshman who has stepped into a pivotal role for the Panthers.
 
Josie Johnson has helped control the offense at the setter position. Johnson has dished up 404 assists and has added 132 digs and 11 aces, which is tied for third on the team.
 
Kara Erdmann currently ranks fourth on the team with 151 digs, reaching double digits in five of the last six matches including a season-high 18 against Northern Kentucky on October 1.
 
Czhen Beneby has also made an impact, totaling 130 kills and 72 blocks in her first season with the black and gold.
 
A GRAND MILESTONE
On September 17 against San Jose State, junior Ari Miller put away 13 kills which put her over 1,000 for her career. Miller became the 15th player in program history to reach the milestone.
 
Additionally, Miller currently ranks sixth in career kills per set (3.16) and first in attack percentage (.337).
 
PRESEASON POLL
The Panthers picked up four first-place votes and 93 total poll points as they were predicted to finish second in this year's Horizon League preseason poll. MKE was edged by Northern Kentucky, who earned six first-place votes and 96 poll points. Wright State was picked third (78 points) followed by Green Bay (69) to round out the top four.
 
NO SLOUCH IN NON-CONFERENCE
Head Coach Susie Johnson put together one of the toughest non-conference schedules in program history and that continues in California. The Panthers had two ranked matches and three more against teams receiving votes in the top-25 poll.
 
The last time the Panthers saw at least two ranked opponents in a single season was 2014 when MKE took on No. 19 Minnesota and No. 25 Michigan State.
 
PANTHER DEBUTS
All 13 active Panthers saw the floor during the opening weekend of play with six new faces making their debut for the black and gold. Natalie Schmitz put away 20 kills, averaging 1.82 per set while Czhen Beneby totaled 14 kills and seven blocks. Rachel Scott recorded five kills, four digs, and three blocks in nine sets played. Josie Johnson saw action in all 11 sets and racked up 36 assists and 13 digs. Maddie Moan (one block) and Kara Erdmann (eight digs) also made their debut for MKE.
 
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 $9.99 a month (or $99.99 per year) and cancel at any time.
 
For road games, visit MKEPanthers.com for live coverage links.
 
UP NEXT
The Panthers will wrap up the regular season at home with a 6:00 pm contest against in-state rival Green Bay on November 11.