MILWAUKEE – Milwaukee volleyball will play its final two home matches of the season this weekend as the Panthers play host to the Robert Morris Colonials on Friday at 6:00 p.m. and Saturday at 2:00 p.m. Live Stats of both matches will be available at the links found on MKEPanthers.com.
 
Following Friday's match against the Colonials, Milwaukee will be celebrating 'Senior Day' and recognize their five student-athletes that will be playing in their final Panther home matches this weekend. Among the seniors this year are Hallie Cook, Kara Erdmann, Hailey Hutchings, Josie Johnson, and Natalie Schmitz.
 
WEEK AT A GLANCE & GAME LINKS
Friday, Nov. 7 | Robert Morris at Milwaukee | Klotsche Center | Milwaukee, Wis. | 6:00 p.m. | Live Stats | Tickets
Saturday, Nov. 8 | Robert Morris at Milwaukee | Klotsche Center | Milwuakee, Wis. | 2:00 p.m. | Live Stats | Tickets

FIRST SERVE
» Milwaukee enters this week on a three-match winning streak, knocking off Green Bay on Tuesday before a pair of wins this past weekend against Purdue Fort Wayne. The Panthers will host the Robert Morris Colonials at the Klotsche Center on Friday and Saturday this week in their final two home matches of the season.
» Robert Morris also won both of its matches this past weekend, knocking off preseason favorite Wright State by identical 3-1 scores. The wins for the Colonials were the first in program history against the Raiders.
» This past week, the Panthers were led by Natalie Schmitz with 37 kills, while both Annie Eschenbach and Josie Noble each had 36. Noble had a .463 hitting percentage to lead the way, with many of her kills coming off Josie Johnson and her 75 assists, and 53 assists by Milica Tomic.
» At the service line, Kati Goba paced the Panthers with four aces, while Johnson, Tomic, and Kara Erdmann each had three.
» Defensively, Milwaukee had strong showings from Erdmann and Noble with Erdmann securing 91 digs over the three-match week including a season-best 36 against Purdue Fort Wayne on Friday. Noble had arguably the most notable statline of the season for the Panthers with 13 blocks in the win over Green Bay, en route to finishing with 19 blocks on the week.
» Milwaukee is currently 9-0 in all-time meetings with Robert Morris including a 4-0 record in matches played at the Klotsche Center. The all-time series has only see RMU win three sets including one at home on Sept. 29, 2023, and winning a pair of sets in a five-set match last season on Nov. 8, 2024.
» The Panthers enter the week in a four-way tie for fourth place in the Horizon League as Milwaukee, Green Bay, Youngstown State, and Oakland all have 7-7 conference records. With Milwaukee playing Robert Morris, Green Bay hosts IU Indy, Youngstown State welcomes Cleveland State, and Northern Kentucky visits Oakland.

LOOKING AT ROBERT MORRIS
While Robert Morris may currently be on the outside looking in with regards to Horizon League postseason play, the Colonials may be getting hot at the right time coming off a pair of four-set wins over Wright State at home this past weekend. The team has won three of its last four matches, and has shown fight throughout Horizon League play winning sets against every opponent thus far except for Youngstown State. RMU has not yet played Milwaukee or Green Bay this season and will host the Phoenix after its trip to Milwaukee this season.

Robert Morris is the top digging team in the Horizon League averaging 16.58 per set, while the team is middle to the back of the pack in most other categories as a team. Jasmine Purakal is the league's top digger with 5.11 per set this season, while Natalie Stepanovich (2.56) and Jocelyn Jourdan (2.55) are both in the top-20 in the league.

Jourdan is also the team's most accurate hitter with a .218 hitting percentage and is top-five in the league with 3.66 kills per set with 340 this year. Addyson Butts has been lights out from behind the service line and is third in the league among eligible players at 0.17 aces per set. Up front, Keira Hornung is among the league's top blockers and is averaging 1.20 per set with 83 on the year.

UP NEXT
Milwaukee will wrap up the regular season on the road against Cleveland State next Friday and Saturday, it will be the fourth consecutive season that the Panthers and Vikings will meet at least once in the final two matches of the regular season.

ALL-TIME IN DIGS
1. Lauren Felsing (2006-09): 1,929
...
5. Laura Dallenbach (1998-01): 1,600
6. Kara Erdmann (2022-present): 1,587
7. Leanne Felsing (2004-07): 1,329

ALL-TIME IN ASSISTS
1. Katie Schneider (1996-99): 5,276
...
8. Kari Naber (1994-97): 2,308
9. Leane Felsing (2004-07): 2,264
10. Josie Johnson (2022-present): 2,247

In the team's match against Arizona State, Josie Johnson became the 10th player in program history to reach 2,000 career assists.

HORIZON LEAGUE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
On Monday, the Horizon League named Josie Noble as Player of the Week. It was the first selection for a Panther this season, and the first in Noble's career. She becomes the first Panther freshman to receive the honor since Madi Malone was named Horizon League Player of the Week on both Sept. 8 and Oct. 6 of the 2021 season.

ERDMANN OF LATE
With 92 digs this past week, Kara Erdmann has climbed her way back towards the top of the nation in terms of digs and digs per set and moved into second in the Horizon League in both of those categories. Through the team's 27 matches this season, Erdmann has recorded 444 digs, and is looking to get back into the top-10 of the Milwaukee single-season mark, needing 509 to break back into the top-10. Last year Erdmann set the Milwaukee single-season mark with 718 digs.

KILLS-BLOCKS DOUBLE-DOUBLE
With 13 Kills and 13 Blocks against Green Bay on Oct. 28, Josie Noble became the first Panther to record at least 10 blocks in a single match since Ari Miller did so against Oakland on Oct. 13, 2019, in Rochester, Mich.

The Kills-Blocks Double-Double is the first for a Panther since Rachel Neuberger had 15 Kills and 10 Blocks against Wright State on Oct. 12, 2012. They are the only two instances of Kills-Block Double-Doubles since the conclusion of the 2010 season.

BLOCKS AROUND THE NATION AND THE LEAGUE
With 13 blocks in the team's four-set win over Green Bay, Josie Noble has tied for the third-most blocks among all Division I players in a four-set match. Only Chelsea Cotter of George Mason with 15, and Julia Amorim of Hofstra with 14 have more than Noble in a four-set match this season.

Her 13 blocks are the most of any Horizon League student-athlete in any length of match this season, there have been four instances in 2025 of Horizon League players getting 11 or more blocks in a match. JeriLynn Koehler of Cleveland State being the only other to do so in league play, recording her total against Purdue Fort Wayne on Oct. 17, Katie Noschang (Northern Kentucky), Azra Eric (Robert Morris), and Taya Nordmann (Youngstown State) recorded their 11 blocks in non-league play.

SWEET 16
With 16 blocks against Green Bay on Oct. 28, it marked the most in a single match for the Panthers since the 2017 season, when Milwaukee secured 17 against North Carolina State on Sept. 16 of that season.

It was also the most for Milwaukee in a match against a Horizon League team sine Nov. 24, 2013, when the Panthers had 16 in the Horizon League Championship match against Valparaiso, and most in a regular season Horizon League match since Milwaukee had 19 against Valpo on Oct. 13, 2012.

RIVALRY SWEEP
With Milwaukee's win over Green Bay on Tuesday, the Panthers swept their season series against their in-league foe. It marks the 14th time since 2004 that the Panthers have taken all matches against the Phoenix in a single season.

WHO'S LEADING TODAY?
Milwaukee loves to spread the ball around and have had five different players lead them in kills this season including a team-best 14 matches with the team-high by Natalie Schmitz. Josie Noble has led the team eight times, Bella Lipski four, Ella Schuetz three, and Annie Eschenbach twice.

The Panther defense has also had six different players lead the team in blocks at various points throughout the season including a team-best 16 times by Josie Noble. Bella Lipski has led the team in blocking 14 times this season, followed by Annie Eschenbach five times, Emily Hansen twice, and Julia Kellner, Natalie Schmitz and Sam Vanda once each.

Kara Erdmann has led Milwaukee in digs 25 times this year, while Josie Johnson, Ella Schuetz, Milica Tomic each finished a match with the team lead on one occasion. Johnson has also led Milwaukee in assists 17 times, while Milicia Tomic has led the Panthers 11 times this season.

ERDMANN IN THE TEENS
With 444 total digs and 4.99 digs per set, Kara Erdmann is currently ranked 17th and 15th in all of Division I volleyball through matches completed on Nov. 2. Last season, Erdmann finished the year second in the nation at both 5.85 digs per set and 719 total digs in 2024.

THE REVENGE SWEEP
Among current Horizon League members, Milwaukee has avenged a 3-0 loss with a 3-0 win against the same opponent just twice in its history. The Panthers accomplished the feat on Oct. 18 with a sweep over Wright State after being swept the evening prior.

The only other instance it has happened against the same Horizon League opponent also came against Wright State during the inaugural Horizon League season (following its transition from the Midwestern Collegiate Conference). The Panthers were swept by Wright State on Sept. 27 in Dayton but bounced back to win 3-0 over the Raiders at home on Oct. 26 of the same season.

FLIPPING THE SCRIPT
Over the last three seasons, Milwaukee and Wright State have gone 3-3 against one another with the Panther and Raiders reversing identical scores against one another. This year Milwaukee bounced back to win 3-0 in their second meeting after falling 3-0 the previous night, while in 2024 the team's exchanged 3-2 wins, and in 2023 the team's swapped 3-1 decisions.

IT'S BEEN A WHILE…
With Milwaukee's win over Wright State on Oct. 18, the Panthers handed the Raiders their first three-set loss in Horizon League play since the 2019 season, when UIC defeated WSU on Oct. 11. Among active Horizon League teams, the last to sweep Wright State was Green Bay on Nov. 4, 2018.

The three-set win for Milwaukee was its first over Wright State since the Panthers did so on Sept. 24, 2016, and was the first time the Black & Gold swept WSU on its home court since Nov. 15, 2014.

NOT SO BLOCK PARTY
The Panthers are 1-12 this season in matches where they are outblocked by opponents, winning their first match in the team's four-set win over Purdue Fort Wayne on Oct. 31. Milwaukee is also 5-6 with more blocks than their opponents and 1-2 when blocks are equal.

NOBLE UP FRONT
With 92 blocks on the season, Josie Noble leads Milwaukee with her efforts and is looking to become the first freshman to lead the Panthers in blocks since Ari Miller had 99 blocks her freshman season in 2019.

The freshman record at Milwaukee for blocks in a season is Natalie Schmitting, who had 123 blocks in 2007. There have been five first-year players in program history to record at least 100 digs in their rookie campaigns.

At 1.07 blocks per set entering play this week, Noble is on pace to finish sixth on the freshman list in blocks per set during a season.

JOHNSON REACHES 200 HORIZON LEAGUE WINS
After reaching 300 total coaching wins with Milwaukee in 2024, head coach Susie Johnson reached another milestone in the team's three-set win over Wright State on Oct. 18 as she recorded her 200th Horizon League win as head coach of the Panthers. Chuck Voss, current head coach at Cleveland State enters this week with 222 wins in league play.

WITHIN THE HORIZON
Below are Milwaukee's top performers in each statistical category, as provided by the Horizon League…
Hitting Percentage: Josie Noble (7th, .286 Pct.)
Kills: Natalie Schmitz (15th, 2.78 Kills/Set)
Service Aces: Kati Goba (18th, 0.23 Aces/Set)
Blocks: Josie Noble (3rd, 1.07 Blocks/Set)
Digs: Kara Erdmann (2nd, 4.99 Digs/Set)
Points: Josie Noble (16th, 3.09 Points/Set)

REACHING THE MARK
Senior Natalie Schmitz became the latest Panther to join the 1,000 kill club with her sixth kill earlier this season against Iowa State. In doing so, Schmitz became the first Panther to reach 1,000 since Madi Malone did so during her junior season in 2023. Former teammate and all-time kills leader Ari Miller reached 1,000 career kills a season prior in 2022 and finished her career with 1,563.

PANTHERS vs. RANKED
Milwaukee played two teams this season that garnered attention from the American Volleyball Coaches Association. The Panthers are played Preseason No. 8 Wisconsin on Sept. 9 before taking on Marquette on Sept. 14, the Golden Eagles are receiving votes in the poll. The schedule also featured preseason No. 13 Arizona State in Tempe on Sept. 21.

The Panthers are 2-39 in all-time meetings against top-25 programs, which includes the losses earlier this season to Wisconsin and Arizona State.