MILWAUKEE – Horizon League play gets underway this weekend with all 10 teams in the conference beginning their 18-match slates underway, including Milwaukee hosting the Oakland Golden Grizzlies at the Klotsche Center for a pair of matches including Friday at 6:00 p.m. and Saturday at 2:00 p.m.
 
This weekend's home matches will be available on ESPN+ with Matt Menzl on the call, both matches this weekend will also have live stats available at the links on MKEPanthers.com.

WEEK AT A GLANCE & GAME LINKS Saturday, Sept. 27 | Oakland vs. Milwaukee | Klotsche Center | Milwaukee, Wis. | 2:00 p.m. | ESPN+ / Live Stats | Tickets

FIRST SERVE
» After playing eight non-conference matches over the past two weeks, the Milwaukee volleyball team will shift its focus to Horizon League play this weekend as the Panthers play host to the Oakland Golden Grizzlies for two matches. The Klotsche Center will be abuzz on Friday evening at 6:00 p.m. and Saturday afternoon at 2:00 p.m.
» Milwaukee enters the week off a trip to Arizona State, where the Panthers competed against three strong contenders from each of their respective conferences: Grand Canyon of the Mountain West, Pepperdine of the West Coast, and Arizona State of the Big 12.
» This weekend will be the Panthers' first home match since Sept. 17, which was also the team's best chance at cashing in a victory as the DePaul Blue Demons erased a 2-0 deficit to complete the reverse sweep with an 18-16 fifth-set win.
» During the team's most recent match on Sunday afternoon, senior Josie Johnson became just the 10th all-time member of the 2,000 assist club.
» In addition to Johnson's record of 2,000 assists, Kara Erdmann moved up the all-time digs list and now sits at 1,329 for her career. The number ties her with Leanne Felsing, who finished her career sixth on the all-time digs list.
» Milwaukee enters this weekend on a 10-match winning streak against Oakland, having not lost a match since Nov. 8 of the 2019 season. Last season was close, however, as the Grizzlies forced both matches to five sets at the O'Rena.
» The Panthers have won their last four Horizon League conference opening matches, defeating Oakland (3-2) in 2024, IU Indy (3-0) in 2023, Purdue Fort Wayne (3-0) in 2022 and (3-1) in 2021.
» Milwaukee has opened the home conference schedule just once before against Oakland, which was the Golden Grizzlies' first-ever Horizon League match on Sept. 27, 2013, a 3-1 win for Milwaukee at the Klotsche Center.

LOOKING AT OAKLAND
Oakland enters the season with an 0-12 mark in matches this season, the program's worst start since the 2006 season, when it started the year 0-16 and finished with a 1-25 record. In now her fourth season with the program, Krista Rice's team is looking to bounce back and get back to the Horizon League postseason since 2023, when the team finished fifth in the league.

After finishing as one of the top digging teams in the Horizon League and the nation in 2024, the Golden Grizzlies are right back in the top 75 nationally and are second in the conference. Lyse Bates leads the team with 134 on the year, with Delaney Stern second on the team with 95, Mya Kattula with 86 and Kalli Cook with 83. Meanwhile the front line of defense is led by Grace Cooney with 25 blocks and Anika Prisby with 21.

Another area where Oakland is excelling in through the first month of the season is total attacking attempts with 1,706 on the year. However, the team only has 500 kills on the year, which is sixth in the Horizon League. Libby Smith has a team-best 98 kills, with Ella Schomer second on the team with 81. Stern paces the offense with 227 assists, while Kattula has 157. Seven players have at least six service

UP NEXT
Milwaukee will host Green Bay on Tuesday evening at the Klotsche Center to close out the month of September. The team will then head to Indianapolis for a pair of matches against IU Indy. The Panthers will play just three matches at home the entire month of October with Northern Kentucky on Oct. 10-11, and Purdue Fort Wayne on Oct. 31.

ALL-TIME DIGS COUNTER
1. Lauren Felsing (2006-09): 1,929
2. Becky Peters (2005-08): 1,875
3. Jess Grabowski (2018-21): 1,859
4. Kaley Blake (2020-23): 1,760
5. Myanna Ruiz (2013-16): 1,700
6. Laura Dallenbach (1998-01): 1,600
T7. Kara Erdmann (2022-present): 1,329
T7. Leanne Felsing (2004-07): 1,329

JOHNSON REACHES 2,000
In the team's match against Arizona State, Josie Johnson became the 10th player in program history to reach 2,000 career assists. The last player to reach the mark was Jenn Dore, who finished her career with 3.751, which is fourth-most in Milwaukee history. The program's all-time leader is Katie Schneider with 5,276 in four seasons from 1996-99.

NOBLE'S WEEKEND AT MARQUETTE
This past weekend at Marquette, Josie Noble had an impressive showing with a .392 hitting percentage over the three matches with 27 kills including a career-best 12 kills against James Madison. She had two blocks in each match over the weekend amassing 31 points total.

REACHING THE MARK
Senior Natalie Schmitz became the latest Panther to join the 1,000 kill club with her sixth kill on Friday 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.

BELLA'S BREAKOUT
Junior Bella Lipski put together some big time marks this past weekend at the 2025 Panther Invitational with back-to-back 11-kill performances against Central Michigan on Saturday and South Alabama on Sunday. The Milwaukee native entered the season with a match-high of four kills but has since surpassed that mark three times this year. Defensively she already has 13 blocks on the season, one shy of her career-best 13 as a freshman.

THE RETURN OF ERDMANN
The 2024 Horizon League Defensive Player of the Year Kara Erdmann is back for her senior season with the Panthers. On top of earning the league's top defensive honor, she also earned a spot on the All-League First Team. Erdmann finished the year with a program-best 718 digs and 5.85 digs per set, both of which were second-most in all of Division I.

Erdmann also had the most digs in a single-match with 47 on Oct. 19 against Wright State, while she also wrote her name into the top-five dig performances in three-set, four-set, and five-set matches.

ALL-LEAGUE HONORS
In addition to Kara Erdmann, Natalie Schmitz was an All-Horizon League selection as a member of the second team. Schmitz finished her junior season with a career-best 345 kills leaving her just shy of 1,000 for her career with 977 entering 2025. Schmitz also had a career-best 27 service aces and 106 digs last year.

ALL-FRESHMAN HONORS
Putting together an impressive rookie campaign, Milica Tomic became the first Panther to earn a spot on the All-Freshman team since Natalie Schmitz did so in 2022. Tomic had 549 assists in Milwaukee's 6-2 offense for an average of 4.46 assists per set, Tomic's service game was also a key factor in her game with 28 as she returns as the team's top server from 2024.

HITTING THE PORTAL
Milwaukee welcomes a trio of newcomers by way of transfer; Hailey Hutchings joins the Panthers as a graduate student following a four-year beach volleyball career at Grand Canyon University. Junior Carol Herrero comes to the Cream City following a two-year junior college career at Iowa Western, while sophomore Annie Eschenbach makes her way to Milwaukee following a successful campaign at McHenry County College. Eschenbach spent her true freshman season at Xavier University in Cincinnati.

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK
Milwaukee welcomes five true freshmen to the roster this season including Sam Vanda (Geneva, Ill.), Julia Kellner (Racine, Wis.), Braylin Bosetski (De Pere, Wis.), Ella Schuetz (Lake Mills, Wis.) and Josie Noble (Caledonia, Mich.). Noble is the first player in program history to make their way to Milwaukee coming from the State of Michigan.

SUSIE APPROACHING 200
After reaching 300 total coaching wins with Milwaukee in 2024, head coach Susie Johnson boasts a 196-92 record in Horizon League matches and is four away from reaching 200 for her league career. Chuck Voss, current head coach at Cleveland State will enter the season with 220 wins in league play.

TERRY JOINS COACHING STAFF
Earlier this summer, head coach Susie Johnson announced the addition of All-American Raina Terry to the Panther coaching staff beginning in 2025. Terry had a successful five-year career at the University of Illinois and is also playing professionally for the Columbus Fury of Major League Volleyball.

PANTHERS VS. RANKED
Milwaukee is scheduled to two teams that have garnered attention from the American Volleyball Coaches Association. The Panthers are slated to play 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 features 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.

ON THE HORIZON
Next season, Northern Illinois will join the Horizon League as its 12th full-time member. Not far from Milwaukee, the Panthers and Huskies have met 20 times on the volleyball court with NIU leading the series by a 12-8 margin. However, the Panthers have won three of the last four matchups, including a five-set win over Northern Illinois on Sept. 1, 2024.