MILWAUKEE – After winning their first two Horizon League matches of the conference schedule, the Milwaukee volleyball team looks to keep it rolling with a home match against the Green Bay Phoenix on Tuesday evening at 6:00 p.m., before heading on the road to take on the IU Indy Jaguars at the Jungle at 5:00 p.m. (CT) on Friday, and 1:00 p.m. (CT) on Saturday.
 
Tuesday's home match will be available on ESPN+ with Matt Menzl on the call beginning at 6:00 p.m. The weekend series at IU Indy is expected to be available on ESPN+. All three matches this week will have live stats available at the links on MKEPanthers.com.

WEEK AT A GLANCE & GAME LINKS
Tuesday, Sept. 30 | Green Bay at Milwaukee | Klotsche Center | Milwaukee, Wis. | 6:00 p.m. | ESPN+ / Live Stats | Tickets
Friday, Oct. 3 | Milwaukee at IU Indy | The Jungle | Indianapolis, Ind. | 5:00 p.m. | ESPN+ / Live Stats
Saturday, Oct. 4 | Milwaukee at IU Indy | The Jungle | Indianapolis, Ind. | 1:00 p.m. | ESPN+ / Live Stats

FIRST SERVE
» Milwaukee won its first two matches to open Horizon League play on Friday and Saturday with consecutive sweeps over the Oakland Golden Grizzlies at the Klotsche Center. The Panthers will welcome in Green Bay on Tuesday evening before their first road league matches taking place at IU Indy on Friday and Saturday.
» Green Bay also won its two matches to open the league slate with a pair of 3-1 victories over visiting Youngstown State, meanwhile IU Indy traveled to Dayton to take on Wright State and after being swept in the opener took a set from the league favorites before falling in four sets.
» MKE has had its share of success over its two most proximal league foes, the Panthers won both matches from the Phoenix a season ago and have won eight of the last 12 dating back to 2019. Meanwhile Milwaukee has won the last five matches from IU Indy and are 9-1 against the Jaguars in their last 10 head-to-head matches.
» Milwaukee is 10-1 in their last 11 Horizon League matches dating back to last season. Including the entirety of the 2024 league slate, the Panthers are 17-3 over their past 20 conference contests.
» Milwaukee and IU Indy have only gone to five sets just once in their 17-match history, a 3-2 win for then-IUPUI in November 2018. On the contrary, the Panthers and Phoenix have gone to five sets on 18 occasions since becoming Division I foes in 1990, with Milwaukee holding a 10-8 advantage in matches to go the distance.

LOOKING AT GREEN BAY
Coming off a pair of 3-1 victories over Youngstown State this past weekend, Green Bay heads out on the road for their first league match away from the Kress Center beginning with Milwaukee on Tuesday evening. Leading the way for the Phoenix against the Penguins was Diane Pichelman, who was named Horizon League Player of the Week on Monday afternoon.

Pichelman averaged 5.13 kills per set and connected on a .402 hitting percentage and leads the way with 151 kills on the season for GB. Katie Schulz is not far off the pace with 141 kills this season including an impressive 32-kill showing in non-league play against Western Michigan. Schulz missed the two matches against Youngstown State having last played on Sept. 19 against Tennessee Tech.

The top serving team in the Horizon League, averaging 1.73 per set, Jessica Kurpeikis and Kennedy Schmitz lead the team with 14 each. Pichelman, Emma Best, and setter Emma Johnson are tied for third with 13 aces apiece. Johnson paces Abbey Sutherland's offense with 426 assists, entering the week fifth in the Horizon with 8.19 assists per set.

Defensively, Schmitz has the team lead with 149 digs followed closely by Best with 143 and Johnson with 129. As a team, The Phoenix are third in the league with 15.19 digs per set through 13 matches. In her second season with the team, Olivia Neumann continues to make a major impact up front for GB with 55 blocks, surpassing her 49 blocks as a sophomore. Pichelman is second for the Phoenix with 39 blocks.

LOOKING AT IU INDY
After a 6-5 start to the season, IU Indy has dropped three-straight matches to Purdue (Sept. 21) and Wright State (Sept. 26-27) before taking on Purdue Fort Wayne at home on Tuesday evening. Following the home conference opener at The Jungle, the Jaguars will welcome in the Panthers looking to snap their five-match losing streak against Milwaukee.

Head coach Andrew Kroger has turned the program around following a very late hire in the summer of 2023. After winning nine matches in his first season, the Jaguars posted 15 wins in 2024, their most since the 2017 campaign when they won 16 matches overall in what was their first season in the Horizon League.

One key contributor to the Jaguars has been junior Grace Purichia, who is well on pace to eclipse her career-high in assists this year with 537 through the team's first 14 matches. Last season she amassed 1,191 assists in 32 matches. Purichia has twice been named Horizon League player of the week this season, including Sept. 2 and Sept. 22. She enters the week 25th in all of Division I and leads the Horizon in assists per set with 10.13 and is eighth in the nation with her assist total.

Purichia's favorite targets have been Jillian Tippmann and Morgan Ostrowski. Tippman leads IU Indy with 186 kills, while Ostrowski has 122. Meanwhile Ostrowski is tied with Laura Roeder for the team lead in aces with 13 and owns the team lead in blocks with 43. Roeder is the team's top defender with 215 digs on the year, followed by Purichia with 138.

UP NEXT
After Milwaukee hosts Green Bay and visits IU Indy this weekend, the Panthers will return home to the Klotsche Center for a pair of matches on Oct. 10 and 11 against Northern Kentucky. The set against the Norse will be two of the team's three total home matches in the month of October.

ALL-TIME IN DIGS
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
7. Kara Erdmann (2022-present): 1,355
8. 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): 2,032

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

NOBLE UP FRONT
With 43 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 0.93 blocks per set entering play this week, Noble is on pace to finish seventh on the freshman list in blocks per set during a season.

ELLA SCHUETZ HEATING UP
After just 20 kills in her first six matches, newcomer Ella Schuetz has tallied 45 kills over her most recent six contests including double figures in each of her two matches against Oak-land on Sept. 26-27.

WITHIN THE HORIZON
Below are Milwaukee's top performers in each statistical category, as provided by the Horizon League…
Hitting Percentage: Josie Noble (7th, .275 Pct.)
Kills: Natalie Schmitz (15th, 2.65 Kills/Set)
Service Aces: Josie Noble (22nd, 0.22 Blocks/Set)
Blocks: Josie Noble (7th, 0.95 Blocks/Set)
Digs: Kara Erdmann (3rd, 4.33 Digs/Set)
Points: Natalie Schmitz (18th, 2.83 Points/Set)

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 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 37 blocks on the season, already a new career high.

SUSIE APPROACHING 200
After reaching 300 total coaching wins with Milwaukee in 2024, head coach Susie Johnson boasts a 198-92 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.

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.

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.