MILWAUKEE – The Milwaukee volleyball team will host the 24th edition of the Panther Invitational this weekend at the Klotsche Center. The host Panthers will take on Iowa State on Friday at 7:00 p.m., Central Michigan on Saturday at 4:00 p.m., and South Alabama on Sunday at 11:00 a.m.
 
Matt Menzl returns for another season of calling Panther volleyball, with all three matches featuring Milwaukee available for streaming on ESPN+. All six matches will have live stats available, while the neutral site matches will be available via the Milwaukee Panthers YouTube page. The links can all be found on the volleyball schedule page.

WEEK AT A GLANCE & GAME LINKS
Friday, Sept. 5 | Iowa State at Milwaukee | Klotsche Center | Milwaukee, Wis. | 7:00 p.m. | Video / Live Stats | Tickets
Saturday, Sept. 6 | Central Michigan at Milwaukeee | Klotsche Center | Milwaukee, Wis. | 4:00 pm | Video / Live Stats | Tickets
Sunday, Sept. 7 | South Alabama at Milwaukee | Klotsche Center | Milwaukee, Wis. | 11:00 a.m. | Video / Live Stats | Tickets

FIRST SERVE
» The 2025 Panther Invitational takes place as Milwaukee will welcome Iowa State, Central Michigan, and South Alabama to the Klotsche Center on Sept. 5-7. MKE takes on the Cyclones at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, the Chippewas at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, and the Jaguars at 11:00 am on Sunday.
» This will be the 24th edition of the Panther Invitational, and second consecutive season that Milwaukee will host. It will be just the third time that the Panthers will host the event since the 2019 campaign.
» Milwaukee will take on Iowa State for the first time in nearly a decade with the Panthers and Cyclones last meeting in 2015, Iowa State has been to the Klotsche Center just once before a five-set win for Milwaukee in 2008.
» Meanwhile, Milwaukee and Central Michigan have not met on the volleyball court since the 2010 season. In three all-time meetings dating back to their initial matchup in 1993, the winning team has swept their opponent, with Milwaukee scoring a 3-0 win over the Chippewas in 2006.
» South Alabama is new to the slate as the Panthers will take on the Jaguars for the first time in program history. South Alabama is 0-2 in all-time matches against Central Michigan and have never played Iowa State, nor has Iowa State ever played Central Michigan.

LOOKING AT IOWA STATE
Picked to finish ninth in the 15-team Big 12 Conference, Iowa State is off to a quick 2-0 start following wins over Bucknell and host Ohio at the Bobcat Invite in Athens, Ohio.

2025 Big 12 Volleyball Preseason selection Maya Duckworth had 11 kills through the team's first two matches as the Cyclones recorded 15.5 kills per set through their first six played. Middle blocker Pam McCune led the way with 20 kills while freshman outside Alea Goolsby had 19 kills through her first collegiate weekend. Tierney Jackson and Lily Wachholz each had 16 kills apiece against Bucknell and Ohio.

Wachholz was also the team's top server with four aces, while setter Morgan Brandt has a pair of aces to go along with 69 assists. Brandt also loves the sneak attack, recording nine kills already on the season.

Jackson leads the team with nine blocks, and libero Rachel Van Gorp paces the defense with 28 digs under head coach Christy Johnson-Lynch, who coached in her 600th career match at the helm of Iowa State in the season opener against Bucknell.

LOOKING AT CENTRAL MICHIGAN
Under the direction of first-year head coach Arielle Wilson, Central Michigan was tabbed third in the MAC Preseason poll trailing just Bowling Green and Ball State. Three Chippewas were picked to the Preseason All-MAC team, including middle blockers Abby Olin and Grace Thomas in addition to outside hitter Natalia Rejment.

The team took part in a four-team tournament in Provo, Utah hosted by BYU last weekend and went 1-2, winning the opener against High Point before falling to host BYU as well as Fairleigh Dickinson. All three matches went four sets.

Freshman Taylor Cripe burst onto the scene for CMU with 35 kills over the first three match-es, including a season-best 14 against nationally ranked BYU. Maggie Uhwat also had a strong start to her sophomore campaign with 23 kills. Molly Beatty dished out 62 assists, while Keelyn Muell had 37 assists over 10 sets. Cripe also paced the Chippewa serve game with eight service aces.

It's been a balanced effort defensively with Hannah Langton recording a team-best 23 digs, as Cripe has 18 and Alina Anderson has 15 on the year. Up front, Olin has picked up where she had left off with 11 blocks on the young season after tallying 115 a season ago.

LOOKING AT SOUTH ALABAMA
Split into two divisions, South Alabama was picked to finish third in the West Division of the Sun Belt Conference according to this year's preseason poll. The Jaguars were featured as Anna Loberg was named Preseason Setter of the Year while both she and outside hitter Sa-rah Gooch were named to the Preseason All-Sun Belt Team.

Loberg had 36 assists and Rachel Rossman added 30 in the Jaguar 6-2 offense, which to-taled 73 kills after starting the year 0-2 against Baylor and LSU. Gooch had 15 kills to lead the way and is one of five players to have at least 10 kills on the season offensively. Cambria Gaier is the team's top server with five on the year.

On defensive, it's been Briana Wilson covering the court for South Alabama with 30 digs, av-eraging better than 4.2 per set this season. The Jaguars are also strong at the net with Gooch, Alexa Strandberg, and Dalayla Blackwell each with eight blocks apiece through the first two matches.

While none of Milwaukee's three opponents have a student-athlete from the State of Wis-consin, Panther freshman Josie Noble was high school teammates with Cambria Gaier of South Alabama, both hailing from Caledonia High School in Caledonia, Mich.

UP NEXT
Back-to-back four-match weeks will follow for Milwaukee in advance of Horizon League play. Milwaukee will take on Wisconsin on Sept. 9, before taking part in the four-team Marquette Tournament that will pit the Panthers against James Madison on Sept. 12, Ball State on Sept. 13, and host Marquette on Sept. 14.

MILESTONE WITHIN REACH
Senior Natalie Schmitz enters play this week with 994 career kills, just six shy of becoming yet another member of the 1,000 kills club. Schmitz will become 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.

JOHNSON ENTERS TOP-10
In her final match of the 2024 season, Josie Johnson became just the 10th player in Milwaukee Division I history to reach 1,800 career assists and enters the season just 193 shy of 2,000 for her career. Leanne Felsing is ahead of Johnson with 2,264, while the record is held by Katie Schneider with 5,276 in four seasons from 1996-99.

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 slate also features preseason No. 13 Arizona State in Tempe on Sept. 21.

The Panthers are 2-37 in all-time meetings against top-25 programs, which includes a pair of losses a season ago at home against Stanford and at Wisconsin.

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.