MILWAUKEE – Milwaukee volleyball heads back on the road for a pair of matches this week, visiting Green Bay on Tuesday before traveling to Northern Illinois on Thursday.

Tuesday's matchup is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. at the Kress Center, while Thursday's contest will also begin at 6:00 p.m. at Victor E. Court inside NIU's Convocation Center. Both matches will be available on ESPN+, while live stats can be found through the links on MKEPanthers.com.
 
WEEK AT A GLANCE & GAME LINKS
Tuesday, Oct. 13 | Milwaukee at Green Bay | Green Bay, Wis. | Kress Center | ESPN+ / Live Stats
Thursday, Oct. 15 | Milwaukee at Northern Illinois  | DeKalb, Ill. | Victor E. Court | ESPN+ / Live Stats

FIRST SERVE
» After winning a pair of matches from Cleveland State this past weekend at home, Milwaukee heads back on the road to begin a quick two-game trip visiting Green Bay on Tuesday and Northern Illinois on Thursday.
» The Panthers will look to exact some revenge on the Phoenix and Huskies, who took five-set decisions from the Panthers on Sept. 29 and Oct. 1 two weeks ago.
» During Milwaukee's most recent win, Ella Parker finished the five-set match against Cleveland State with 21 kills, becoming the first Panther with at least 20 kills in a match since Madi Malone had 20 against Wright State on Oct. 19, 2024.
» Parker finished the weekend with 28 kills, while hitting .224, Annie Eschenbach had 25 kills and Josie Noble added 24. Milica Tomic dished out 61 assists on the weekend, averaging better than 30 per match. Tomic also held the team lead with seven aces against the Vikings.
» Defensively, Kati Gob had 38 digs and Tomic added 26 digs. Milwaukee collected 16.5 blocks against the Vikings, led by Noble with nine and Bella Lipski with six.
» Entering the week at 11-6, the Phoenix are 4-2 in conference play. Green Bay knocked off NIU in DeKalb after winning in Milwaukee, before dropping a pair to Wright State in Ohio. The Phoenix were swept on Friday and fell in five sets on Saturday.
» Northern Illinois is 7-9 overall and 1-5 in Horizon League play with its lone win coming against Milwaukee. Since defeating Milwaukee, the Huskies have lost three-straight at home with one coming against Green Bay and a pair this past weekend against Northern Kentucky.

THREE THINGS ABOUT GREEN BAY
1. Green Bay has dropped two in a row, falling to Wright State twice in Ohio this past weekend, getting swept by the Raiders on Friday and a five-setter on Saturday. The losses were the first two for the Phoenix in league games this year after starting 4-0.
2. The Diane Pichelman show rolls on for the Phoenix as the junior leads the team with 221 kills, 29 service aces, and is third on the team with 53 blocks. Her 29 aces has already tied her career-high in aces, matching her total from 2025.
3. Green Bay is ranked in the top 50 of Division I in multiple categories, as they are 37th in team digs at 1,053, 44th in team kills at 906, and 41st in total attacks at 2,503.

THREE THINGS ABOUT NORTHERN ILLINOIS
1. Like Green Bay, Northern Illinois enters play this week having lost both matches this past weekend and are currently on a three-match losing streak with losses at home to Green Bay and a pair to Northern Kentucky. Against the Norse, the Huskies fell, 3-1 and 3-0.
2. Ava Grevengoed has been essential to the Huskies' success this season, leading the program with 159 kills, and is among the team leaders with 144 digs and 18 aces. Grevengoed had a season-best 16 kills against the Panthers two weeks prior in Milwaukee, and added 17 digs, spurring three consecutive double-double performances.
3. At 7-9 overall and just 1-5 in Horizon League matches, the Huskies rank near the bottom of the Horizon League in most. The Huskies are 11th in the league in assists (650), digs (786), kills (701), and attack attempts (1,929).

UP NEXT
Milwaukee returns home to take on a pair of Indiana opponents beginning with IU Indy on Oct. 23 before a matchup against Purdue Fort Wayne on Oct. 24. This will be the only meeting against the Jaguars and Mastodons for the Panthers this season.

20-KILL EFFORT
With 21 kills against Cleveland State on Saturday, Ella Parker became the first Panther to reach 20 kills in a single match since the 2024 season when Madi Malone did so three times. Malone had 20 kills against Wight State on Oct. 19 and also had 23 and 25-kill performances earlier in the season.

36 and 19
With 36 assists and 19 digs against Cleveland State on Oct. 10, Milica Tomic set new career highs in both categories. Her previous bests were matched earlier this season as she had 32 assists against Northern Illinois on Oct. 1 and 16 digs against the Huskies, they matched marks set as a freshman when she had 32 assists against Oakland on Sept. 28, 2024, and 16 digs against Wright State later that year on Oct. 19.

GOBA HELPING OUT
During the team's five-set win over Cleveland State on Oct. 10, Kati Goba reached a new career high by tallying 10 assists and reaching double figures for the first time. Her previous career-best mark was eight set back as a freshman on Oct. 28, 2023, against Robert Morris.

FOUR-STRAIGHT AGAINST CLEVELAND STATE
With their two wins against Cleveland State this past weekend coupled with their wins last season against the Vikings, Milwaukee has now won four-straight matches against their longtime foes. Despite owning a 54-27 record against CSU, the current stretch marks the longest winning streak against the Vikings since the team won seven-straight matches from 2009-11.

WHO WAS LEADING TODAY?
During matches played in 2026, five different Panthers have led the team in kills, including Ella Schuetz, Bella Lipski, Josie Noble, Annie Eschenbach and Ella Parker. Milica Tomic has led Milwaukee in assists 15 times, while Emma Duffy has done so four times this year.

Defensively, six players have led the team in blocks, including Noble (11 times), Lipski (eight times), Eschenbach (twice), Schuetz (once), Julia Kellner (once) and Kayla Landerud (once), while Kati Goba has led or tied for the team lead in digs in all but three of the team's matches this season. Ella Parker (twice), Ella Schuetz and Milica Tomic have each done so once.

YEAR TWO LEAPS
For three Panthers in their second years with the program, Josie Noble, Annie Eschenbach and Ella Schuetz have made large leaps in their development in helping Milwaukee to its early-season success.

Eschenbach had 137 kills over 87 sets last year (1.57 kills/set) and has bumped that to 2.63 kills per set.
Noble had 233 kills over 106 sets last year (2.26 kills/set) and has bumped that to 2.32 kills per set.
Schuetz had 210 kills over 102 sets last year (2.06 kills/set) and has bumped that to 2.08 kills per set.

CAN YOU DIG IT?
Through the team's first 18 matches, Kati Goba is fifth in the Horizon League at 4.08 digs per set, with Taygan Corstange of Wright State leading the league at 4.53 digs/set. Goba enters play on Oct. 12 ranked 91st among Division I players in digs per set and 40th in the nation in total digs with 294.

PANTHER BLOCKING
Milwaukee anticipated a strong blocking game heading into the 2026 season, and thus far has been successful. The Panthers are fourth in the Horizon League in blocks per set at 1.98, with 142.5 blocks through 72 sets played. Northern Kentucky leads at 2.39 with 160 blocks over 67 sets played.

ACES ARE WILD
During the team's five-set win over Montana State on Sept. 4, the Panthers recorded nine service aces, including four from freshman Liv Doerre. The nine aces are the most since the team also had nine on Sept. 27 at home against Oakland in 2025.

Since then, Milwaukee recorded 10 aces on Sept. 29, which was the first time the Panthers had recorded double figures in aces since Sept. 13, 2024, with 10 against Illinois State, while the last time the team had at least 10 in a Horizon League match was on Oct. 27, 2023, at home against Youngstown State.

NOT SO BLOCK PARTY
In 2025, the Panthers were 1-13 in matches where they were outblocked by opponents, winning their first such match in the team's four-set win over Purdue Fort Wayne on Oct. 31. Milwaukee was also 8-6 with more blocks than its opponents and 2-2 when blocks were equal.

So far in 2026, Milwaukee is 4-1 when outblocking opponents, 2-7 when being outblocked and 1-3 when blocks are even.