MILWAUKEE, Wis. - The Milwaukee volleyball team continues its grueling non-conference schedule in West Lafayette, heading to the Purdue Reamer Club Xtra Special. The Panthers will face Utah, who is receiving votes in the AVCA Coaches Poll, Bradley, and 11th-ranked Purdue.
Milwaukee is coming off its 14th regular season title last year, finishing 16-2 in league play and 22-9 overall. Head coach
Susie Johnson will have plenty of new faces in 2022 after graduating six seniors from a year ago. Despite the turnover, the 16th-year head coach returns plenty of firepower including Horizon League Player of the Year and Offensive Player of the Year
Ari Miller as well as Freshman of the Year
Madi Malone.
SCOUTING THE COMPETITION
Utah opened the season hosting the Utah Classic in Salt Lake City. The Utes picked up wins over Loyola Marymount (3-0) and Utah Valley (3-0) but fell to No. 23 Kansas (3-1). Utah was ranked No. 22 in the AVCA Preseason Poll and despite dropping a match during the opening weekend of play, is still receiving votes. Head Coach Beth Launiere enters her 33rd season at the helm as the program's winningest head coach and returns eight letterwinners from 2021.
Bradley also hosted a tournament to open the 2022 season and topped Kansas City but dropped decisions to No. 21 Western Kentucky and Miami (Ohio). The victory marked the first win for head coach Alicia Williams. The Braves were picked to finish fourth in the Missouri Valley Conference preseason poll while senior right side Karagan Coggin was named a preseason all-conference selection.
Purdue opened the season checking in at No. 13 in the preseason poll and after taking wins over Bowling Green, Loyola Chicago, and Tennessee, moved to No. 11 this week. The Boilermakers return plenty and added six newcomers including freshman Eva Hudson who was named Big Ten Player and Freshman of the Week. Hudson averaged 4.70 kills and 5.10 points per set to lead the Big Ten over opening weekend of play.
SERIES HISTORY
Friday will mark the first all-time matchup between Milwaukee and Utah.
The Panthers have won four of the last six contests against Bradley, but the Braves hold the all-time series advantage 7-5. The two met last season with the Panthers earning a 3-1 victory behind 16 kills from
Carmen Heilemann and an efficient team hitting percentage of .339.
MKE has won the last two meetings against Purdue but the Panthers and Boilermakers have not seen each other since 2003. Milwaukee won a 3-0 decision over Purdue on August 30, 2003 and a 3-1 contest on September 4, 1999. Purdue won the only other contest, a 3-0 match in 1991.
YEAR 50
Not only is Friday the season opener for the Panthers, but it will also mark the beginning 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 18 victories away from surpassing
Kathy Litzau for the most NCAA Division I wins in program history (272).
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.
IMPROVE THROUGH THE WEEKEND
The Panthers' offense struggled to get anything going against Mississippi State and Texas Tech, but improved play on Sunday at Notre Dame. Milwaukee pushed the Irish to five sets and hit .267 with 69 kills in the match.
DYNAMIC DUO
Madi Malone and
Ari Miller did the damage against Notre Dame, combining for 44 kills. Malone put away 26 with a .375 hitting percentage while Miller recorded 18 at a .351 clip. Additionally, Miller added five blocks while Malone recorded her first double-double of the season with 16 digs.
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.
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.
HOME SWEET HOME
Milwaukee has seen plenty of success on its home floor, totaling a 266-111 (.706) record at the Klotsche Center since 1990. Last year, the Panthers finished 9-0 against league opponents at home, their 11th time going undefeated against the league in MKE. In total, the Panthers are 163-47 against league opponents at the Klotsche Center since 1990.
MILLER MAGIC
Ari Miller continued to add to her already-impressive resume last year as she was named AVCA Honorable Mention All-America, Horizon League Player of the Year, and Offensive Player of the Year. Miller now has three First Team All-League mentions to her name, just one of 30 Horizon League players to ever do so. With one more nod, she could join Sammy Condon (Oakland) and Haley Libs (Northern Kentucky) as the only four-time First Team selections.
Miller joined an elite group of just 11 other Panthers in program history with her AVCA Honorable Mention All-American accolade. It's the most recent All-American honor for the Panthers since Rachel Neuberger and Kerri Schuh was named in 2011.
CLOSING IN ON 1K
With 922 kills,
Ari Miller is closing in on becoming the 15th Panther in program history to reach 1,000 kills.
Miller also currently ranks sixth in program history in career kills per set (3.16) and first in attack percentage (.336).
MAKING THE RETURN
In addition to
Ari Miller,
Madi Malone returns for her second season after lighting it up in 2021. Malone became the Panthers' third Freshman of the Year winner after putting together an impressive season with 371 kills and 283 digs while hitting .252, all of which ranks in the top 10 all-time for Milwaukee freshman.
NEW FACES
Head Coach
Susie Johnson lost six players to graduation from one year ago but brought plenty of new faces ready make an impact. Transfers
Czhen Beneby (Virginia) and
Lakyn Graves (Omaha) have seen action at the college level while five new freshmen will get their first shot at this level.
Kara Erdmann,
Josie Johnson,
Maddie Moan,
Natalie Schmitz, and
Rachel Scott will all look for playing time this fall.
HORIZON LEAGUE CHAMPS
With a 16-2 mark in Horizon League play last year, Milwaukee clinched the title of regular season champions. It marked the 14th regular season title and first since 2013 for the Panthers.
CLEANING UP WEEKLY AWARDS
Milwaukee dominated the weekly honors last season, collecting nine Horizon League Player of the Week awards.
Ari Miller led the charge with four while
Madi Malone earned her first two awards. Currently, Miller is tied for sixth in league history with six career Player of the Week awards. Becky Peters (2005-08) and Kerri Schuh (2007-11) each finished their career with seven to lead Milwaukee.
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.
