MILWAUKEE – Milwaukee's regular season comes to a close this weekend as the Panthers will play host to the Cleveland State Vikings on Friday evening, before welcoming the Oakland Golden Grizzlies to the Klotsche Center on Saturday afternoon.

The Panthers are still alive in the hunt for a regular season crown but will need to take care of business and need an assist from outside sources to earn the right to host the 2023 Horizon League Conference Tournament. Milwaukee currently trails Wright State for the top seed in the Horizon League standings as the teams across the league make their push for a bid to play for the tournament championship and a bid to the NCAA Division I Volleyball Championship.
 
WEEK AT A GLANCE
Friday, November 10 – Cleveland State at Milwaukee | Klotsche Center | Milwaukee, Wis. | 6:00 pm
Saturday, November 11 – Oakland at Milwaukee | Klotsche Center | Milwaukee, Wis. | 4:00 pm
 
QUICK LINKS
Live Stats (All Matches): mkepanthers.com/coverage
ESPN+ (All Matches): mkepanthers.com/coverage
Follow Along (On X): @MKE_Volleyball
Tickets (All Matches): mkepanthers.com/tickets
 
PROMOTIONS (Full Promotional Schedule)
Saturday vs. Oakland – Senior Day
 
FAST FACTS
» Milwaukee returns home for the final weekend of the regular season on Friday and Saturday when the Panthers host Cleveland State and Oakland. Milwaukee will look to split the season series with the Vikings, while sweeping the season set from the Golden Grizzlies.
» The Panthers (12-4) are currently in second place in the Horizon League standings, a game back from Wright State at 13-3, and a full game ahead of Green Bay at 11-5. The trio atop the league standings have already clinched berths into the Horizon League Tournament alongside Oakland (10-5) and Northern Kentucky (10-6). The final spot will be occupied by either Cleveland State (8-7) or Purdue Fort Wayne (5-10).
» Milwaukee is looking for its 50th all-time win against the Vikings and are 49-23 in all-time meetings with Cleveland State. Milwaukee owns a 26-7 record at the Klotsche Center against CSU.
» The Panthers are 14-3 in meetings with the Golden Grizzlies dating back to their initial meeting in 2013. Milwaukee is currently riding a seven-match winning streak against Oakland and owns an 8-3 mark in matches played at home.
» As a team, Milwaukee is atop the total team points number in the Horizon League with 1920.5, while Wright State is second at 1778. The Panthers are also the top hitting team in the conference with a .251 attacking percentage, more than 20 percentage points ahead of the Raiders. Milwaukee also leads the league in assists (1,398), kills (1,501), and blocks (264.5).
» This Saturday, Milwaukee will be celebrating Senior Day and recognizing its four seniors in a pre-match ceremony. Those being recognized are Kaley Blake, Mati Jakscht, Ari Miller, and Sarah Schrader. The group has been a part of over 400 combined matches and 1,400 sets played, while helping the team to 86 wins over the past five seasons.
» The Panthers are led by head coach Susie Johnson, who is in her 17th season as head coach and 27th overall with the program. Johnson became the program's all-time head coaching wins leader with her 272nd on September 19; later in the week she earned her 500th career win on the Panther sideline, which includes her time as both a head coach and an assistant coach. She earned her 300th career head coaching win on October 20, which includes her two seasons at Parkside.

SCOUTING THE COMPETITION – CLEVELAND STATE
Cleveland State is fighting to stay alive in the Horizon League playoff picture at 14-12 overall with an 8-7 mark in the Horizon League. The Vikings are hoping to fend off Purdue Fort Wayne, whom they meet in Indiana on Tuesday night before making its way to Milwaukee on Friday. Earlier this season, Cleveland State knocked off the Panthers in three sets in Ohio, with Milwaukee looking to return the favor on Friday.

In the match against Milwaukee on October 14, Liberty Torres had a team-best 15 kills while JeriLynn Koehler and Madalynn Butner each had seven kills on the night. Karly Klaer had 40 assists, while both she and Lesley Marshall recorded the two service aces for the Vikings on the afternoon. Emma Walker led CSU with 18 digs on the match followed by Klaer with 13. Laken Voss had eight kills and six digs, as she continues to be one of the best all-around players in the Horizon League this season, as she and Torres and both 12th and 11th respectively in points per set this season.

Cleveland State is one of the top digging teams in the nation at 11th in total team digs and 13th in digs per set heading into play this week, Voss is 21st in the nation in both total attacking attempts (1,061), and total digs (501). A solid defensive team, the Vikings are tops in the league in opponent hitting percentage as they have held opponents to a .172 this season, they will run into the top hitting team in the conference this Friday at the Klotsche Center as Milwaukee leads the league with a .251 team hitting percentage. Cleveland State and Milwaukee are the top two teams in the Horizon League in blocks, with Milwaukee first at 264.5 this season, while the Vikings are in a close second at 238.

SCOUTING THE COMPETITION – OAKLAND
Oakland enters the final week of the season having already clinched a berth in the Horizon League Tournament and will host IUPUI on Tuesday before heading to Wisconsin for Green Bay on Friday and Milwaukee in the regular season finale. The Golden Grizzlies are 16-11 overall and 10-5 in league matches, which includes a 3-0 loss at the hands of the Panthers back on October 13 in Michigan.

Libby Gentile led the Golden Grizzlies with nine kills against Milwaukee in mid-October, but no other Oakland player had more than four kills in a match that saw the Golden Grizzlies hit just .021 as a team. Oakland had just one ace and two blocks on the match as the Golden Grizzlies dropped the three sets to the Panthers 25-18, 25-12, 25-9.

The Golden Grizzlies are leading the nation in both team digs with 1,906 and total attacking attempts 4,055, Oakland is in the middle of the pack in most statistical categories within the 10-member Horizon League, aside from digs, where the team is at the top of the conference and more than 100 more than second-place Cleveland State. Patti Cesarini and Gentile lead the offense in terms of kills, while both Sarah Turner and Rachel Rossman have over 500 assists each. Emily Wichmann has been one of the top defensive players in the league with 584 digs in 108 sets played.

PLAYOFF PICTURE?
To say the playoff picture is set couldn't be farther from the truth with less than a week to go in the regular season. The only certainty at this point is that five bids have been clinched by Milwaukee, Wright State, Green Bay, Oakland, and Northern Kentucky. The sixth spot in the playoffs could end up in the hands of current occupant Cleveland State, or with the Mastodons of Purdue Fort Wayne.

The jockeying for seeding is also well up in the air, with Milwaukee still in the hunt for a regular season championship. Should the Panthers end up with an identical record as Wright State, the decision as to whom hosts the Horizon League Tournament would depend on who is the third seed as both Milwaukee and Wright State split this season's action with 1-1 match records and 4-4 set records against one another. Wright State enters play this weekend with a full game lead over the Panthers, as Milwaukee fell out of first place this past weekend during the team's trip to Wright State.

A lot of numbers will be crunched throughout the weekend to determine seeding, hosting duties, and who can claim the regular season crown.

IN THE NATION
Out of 332 Division I programs, Milwaukee is currently second in the nation with 1,501 kills, second in the country with 1,398 assists, and fourth in the country with 264.5 blocks on the season.  Milwaukee also holds a spot in the top-10 with 3,910 total attacking attempts heading into this week's action.

Individually, Ari Miller is 21st in the nation with 451 points, while Madi Malone is 47th in the same category with 417 points. Miller is also top-15 in the nation with 126 blocks, while she is 46th in the country with a .375 hitting percentage.

Madi Malone is 54th in Division I with 375 kills this season, while she is also 25th in total attacking attempts with 1,043. Malone, like Miller, is also in the top-50 in total points with 417 on the season thus far.

MILLER'S TOP-10 ASCENT
With 351 kills this season, Ari Miller now has 1,532 for her career with Milwaukee, that total now places her third on the all-time Division I kills list in program history. Next on the list is Laura Dallenbach in second place all-time as Dallenbach finished her career with 1,534 career kills.

In addition to her kills mark, Miller now has a career-best 126 blocks in her final collegiate season to give her 442 career blocks. She is currently in third on the all-time blocks list and 32 more to reach the top-two on the all-time blocks list. Miller also into first all-time in both career matches with 132, and career sets played with 488.

HORIZON LEAGUE HONORS
Milwaukee has had a league-leading six selections for Horizon League Player of the Week as Madi Malone earned her third selection this Monday. In addition to Malone's three selections, Ari Miller has earned the weekly nod from the conference on three occasions in the month of September.

Malone and Miller are two of just three Horizon League student-athletes to earn multiple Player of the Week nods this season. Panna Ratkai of Purdue Fort Wayne has four selections, while PFW has had five selections as a team.

PICKING UP THE PACE IN HORIZON LEAGUE PLAY
In 16 conference matches this season, Madi Malone has stepped it up with a team-best 217 kills, good enough for 3.62 kills per set and is hitting .279 on the year with a team-best 567 attacking attempts. Malone is second on the team with 17 service aces and is also second on the team with 150 digs during that span.

In 30 matches overall on the season, Malone has 3.23 kills per set with a team-best 375 kills on a team-high 1,043 attempts. Malone only had two service aces in non-conference play, finishing non-league play with 131 digs.

MILLENIUM CLUB
It was a historic night for a pair of Panther in the October 27 match against Youngstown State as Madi Malone reached 1,000 career kills, while Josie Johnson reached 1,000 career assists.

Malone joins Ari Miller as the two Panthers with more than 1,000 career kills, while Johnson joins Kaley Blake as the two Panthers with over 1,000 career assists.

BLOCK PARTY
Following 179 blocks in 2019, the Panthers have increased their team's total block total every season, with 180 in 2021, and 211 in 2022. Through 25 matches Milwaukee has 264.5 blocks and are on a strong pace to continue their upward trend in 2023. The team's block total is the highest since the 2011 season, when the team recorded 272 total blocks that season. The single-season record is 379.5 blocks during the team's inaugural season in 1990.

The Panthers are tops in the Horizon League with their team block total at 264.5 and are also second in the league in solo blocks with 62 thus far. Ari Miller is second in the league with 20 solo blocks, while Lakyn Graves is fourth with 18 on the season.

With 126 total blocks on the season individually, Ari Miller is currently 13th in all of NCAA Division I and is just 20 blocks off the national lead.

DOUBLE-QUARTER
Twice this season setters Kaley Blake and Josie Johnson have recorded at least 25 assists each in the span of one contest. Against Villanova early in the season, Johnson and 30 and Blake had 26 in the five-setter against the Wildcats. Against Air Force on September 15, Johnson had 29 and Blake registered 25. The duo has now accomplished the feat on three occasions in their career, with their first instance coming on October 18 of the 2022 season, when Johnson had 26 and Blake had 29 against IUPUI.

The last time two setters had more than 30 assists in a single match came back on August 29, 2021, when Blake had 32 assists and former teammate Rylie Vaughn had 31 in the team's five-set match against Valparaiso at the Klotsche Center.

CAN YOU DIG IT?
In her final season with the team, Sarah Schrader has played a vital role in the team's defensive efforts in the back row this year with a team-best 316 digs, which is already the second highest dig total for her career. In 2022, Schrader had a career-best 324 digs and is well ahead of that pace as she is averaging 3.85 digs per set compared to last year's 3.31 dig per set as a junior.

With her 36 digs against Western Illinois on September 8, Schrader moved into a third-place tie on the single-match digs list in five-set matches, equaling the mark of Myanna Ruiz in September of 2015. The single match-record for the Panthers is 41 digs set by Becky Peters in 2005, while Lauren Felsing is the only other player to reach 40 digs in a match as she did so in 2009 with 40 digs in a four-set match.

NO SOPHOMORE SLUMP HERE
Following strong freshman campaigns in 2022 Natalie Schmitz and Josie Johnson both reached new career-high marks at their respective positions during the opening trio of matches in Michigan.

Schmitz has secured a career-best 17 kills in three matches this season, including the team's matches against Villanova, Montana State, and Northwestern. Johnson also reached a career-high mark in the match against the Bobcats of Montana State with 31 assists.

COACHING MILESTONES
Milwaukee head coach Susie Johnson earned her 272nd head coaching victory at Milwaukee to become the program's all-time leader in wins as a Division I program (since 1990). Johnson earned the win with a five-set victory over the Chicago State Cougars on Tuesday evening and is now the department's leader in wins for any women's sport at Milwaukee.

In addition to her head coaching wins total with the Panthers, Johnson also recorded her 500th career win with the Panthers program on Saturday against Purdue Fort Wayne. Johnson has 274 wins as head coach, coupled with 226 wins during her 10 seasons as an assistant coach with the program.

On October 20, Johnson earned her 300th career victory, which includes her 280 at Milwaukee and 20 during her first two collegiate seasons as a head coach at Parkside.

1,000 DIVISION I MATCHES
Earlier this season, the Milwaukee volleyball program played its 1,000th Division I match in its 34th season of competition. The Panthers won the match in five sets over Western Illinois at the SIUE Cougar Classic. The program's first-ever match took place on August 31, 1990, against Wright State in Macomb, Illinois at a tournament hosted by Western Illinois.

LOOKING AHEAD
After this weekend, Milwaukee will be competing in the Horizon League Tournament. The team will play at the highest seed in the tournament, which may ultimately be the Klotsche Center depending upon the results of this week's matches. The quarterfinal round will take place on November 17 with the three seed playing the six seed and the four seed playing the five seed.

The winners will advance to take on the top-two seeds in the semifinals on November 18, before the remaining two teams will dual for the Horizon League Championship at 2:00 p.m. local time depending on the host site.