MILWAUKEE – A busy and challenging weekend is ahead for the Milwaukee volleyball team, which travels to No. 6 Wisconsin on Friday, welcomes Western Michigan for its home opener on Saturday, and visits crosstown foe Marquette on Sunday.

The Panthers will head to the UW Field House in Madison for a 7:00 p.m. serve, with the match available on B1G+. Milwaukee makes its awaited Klotsche Center opener on Saturday against the Broncos at 4:00 p.m., before heading to the Al McGuire Center on Sunday for a 2:00 p.m. first serve against the Golden Eagles on ESPN+. Live stats and video links are available at MKEPanthers.com.

WEEK AT A GLANCE & GAME LINKS
Friday, Sept. 19 | Milwaukee at No. 6 Wisconsin | Madison, Wis. | UW Field House | 7:00 p.m. | B1G+ / Live Stats
Saturday, Sept. 20 | Milwaukee vs. Western Michigan | Milwaukee, Wis. | Klotsche Center | 4:00 p.m. | Live Stats
Sunday, Sept. 21 | Milwaukee at Marquette | Milwaukee, Wis. | Al McGuire Center | 2:00 p.m. | ESPN+ / Live Stats

FIRST SERVE
» Milwaukee enters the week on a five-match winning streak having taken a pair of matches this past weekend at Indiana State. The Panthers beat the Sycamores in five sets on Thursday, before beating the home team in four sets on Friday.
» The Panthers will play its toughest stretch of the non-league slate beginning with nationally ranked Wisconsin on Friday evening in Madison. Milwaukee will then take on Western Michigan in its home opener before heading across town for a matchup against Marquette.
» The Panthers were led this past weekend by sophomores Ella Schuetz and Josie Noble as both finished the weekend with at least 30 points. Schuetz had a team-high 28 kills with three aces, 17 digs and three blocks with Noble adding another 25 digs while leading the team with a .465 hitting percentage and was tied for the team lead in blocks with 10 alongside graduate student Bella Lipski.
» No strangers to slow starts given their strength of schedule, the Badgers are 4-4 to start the year, with wins over No. 7 Louisville, No. 17 Florida, and No. 19 Texas A&M. Losses have come to No. 3 Kentucky, No. 5 Stanford, No. 4 Pittsburgh, and No. 9 Texas.
» Western Michigan started the year 6-0, but losses to Michigan State, DePaul, and UIC have thwarted the hot start.
» Marquette enters the week 3-4 after splitting a weekend set against Illinois, the Golden Eagles are off to a strong start despite the record, taking sets from No. 2 Texas, RV Dayton, and No. 4 Stanford.
» Wisconsin and Marquette will play in Madison on Thursday, while Western Michigan plays against St. Thomas in Milwaukee before taking on the Panthers. Marquette will also play St. Thomas, in addition to Wisconsin before Sunday's bout with the Panthers.

THREE THINGS ABOUT WISCONSIN
1. Kelly Sheffield doesn't rebuild, he reloads, and once again Wisconsin is a top-10 program and a threat to once again win the Big Ten Championship, which will now feature a postseason tournament for the first time in league history.
2. Through just eight matches setter Charlie Fuerbringer already has 317 assists on the year, giving her 2,525 in her illustrious Badger career. Fuerbringer has found Eva Travis the most, with a team-high 86 kills, while Audrey Flanagan is second on the team with 82 kills.
3. A top defensive unit, the Badgers are 14th in the nation and lead the Big Ten in digs per set (16.27), the team has a total of 488 digs led by Anna Bardaro with 106, and Fuerbringer with 96 digs this season.

THREE THINGS ABOUT WESTERN MICHIGAN
1. Western Michigan was 6-0 to begin the season, their best start since the 2023 season when the team began 7-0, including a season-opening win over Milwaukee in four sets. Since then, WMU dropped its last three and are entering the week at 6-3.
2. Western Michigan is ranked just outside the top-50 in Division I in both assists per set (53rd, 12.45), and hitting percentage (52nd, .261).
3. Gabby Weihe leads the team with a .401 hitting percentage and is also averaging better than a block per set with 33 already on the season. She has 81 kills on the year, just 15 off the team lead held by Annalise Patchett.

THREE THINGS ABOUT MARQUETTE
1. Head coach Tom Mendoza has revamped the Golden Eagle roster heading into his second season at Marquette. The Golden Eagles return just Julia Stanev, Keira Schmidt, Emma Parks, Annika Kowalski, and Avery Helms as holdover from last season's roster.
2. Marquette doesn't do anything flashy, but are still a dangerous team, the balanced Golden Eagles rank in the top-200 of Division I programs in just blocks per set1.93 (196th) and hitting percentage at .210 (175th) entering play this week.
3. After a season without a dominant setter from South America in 2025, the Golden Eagles are banking on freshman Luanna Markus to lead the offense. From 2022-24, the Golden Eagles relied on Yadhira Anchante, who had 3,440 assists over her three seasons.

UP NEXT
Milwaukee will wrap up non-league play on Tuesday, when the Panthers visit Iowa in Coralville for a 6:00 p.m first serve. Horizon League play will begin with a pair of road matches at Northern Kentucky on Friday and Saturday before the Panthers return home to take on Green Bay on Sept. 29.

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.

Noble had 233 kills over 103 sets last year (2.26 kills/set) and has bumped that to 2.45 kills per set.
Eschenbach had 137 kills over 87 sets last year (1.57 kills/set) and has bumped that to 2.84 kills per set.
Schuetz had 210 kills over 102 sets last year (2.06 kills/set) and has bumped that to 2.45 kills per set.

CAN YOU DIG IT?
Through the team's first eight matches, Kati Goba is third in the Horizon League at 4.32 digs per set, with Becky Barrett of Purdue Fort Wayne leading the league at 4.43 digs/set followed by Daisy Cluxton of Northern Kentucky at 4.41 digs per set. Goba enters play on Sept. 15 ranked 65th among Division I players in digs per set, and 92nd in the nation in total digs with 134.

EARLY SEASON BLOCKING
Milwaukee anticipated a strong blocking game heading into the 2026 season, and thus far in the early season it has been successful. The Panthers lead the Horizon League teams in blocks per set at 2.16 with 67 blocks through 31 sets played. Northern Kentucky is second at 2.13 with 83 blocks over 39 sets played.

Milwaukee is the only team in the Horizon League that has at least two players averaging better than one block per set so far on the season as Bella Lipski averages 1.06 blocks/set, followed by Josie Noble at 1.03 blocks/set. Only Katie Noschang of Northern Kentucky, Olivia Neumann of Green Bay and Bella DiBuono of Purdue Fort Wayne average more than a block per set among Horizon League student-athletes.

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

Defensively, four players have led the team in blocks including Lipski (six times), Noble (four times), Eschenbach (twice), and Schuetz (once), while Kati Goba has led the team in digs in all of the team's matches this season.

NOT SO BLOCK PARTY
In 2025, the Panthers were 1-13 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 was also 8-6 with more blocks than their opponents and 2-2 when blocks are equal.

So far in 2026, Milwaukee is 3-1 when outblocking opponents and 2-2 when being outblocked.

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.

The last time the Panthers recorded double figures in aces was on 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.