Sept. 28, 2009

Week #6
Oct. 2 - Youngstown St. - 7 pm

Printable Weekly Notes
Coach Johnson Weekly Podcast

Panther Points
• The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's volleyball team returns home Friday night, squaring off with Youngstown State in its only league home match during the first half of the season.

• UWM won its only match last week, beating in-state rival Green Bay in four sets. It marked the 31st win for the Panthers in their last 34 meetings with the Phoenix.

• The Panthers' defense took center stage in the win up north. UWM tallied 110 digs as a team and senior Lauren Felsing set a new collegiate high with 40 digs. She claimed Horizon League Defensive Player of the Week honors with her effort.

• Milwaukee has beaten Youngstown State 18-straight times after dropping the first four meetings between the schools.

Here's The Latest
• What's Up
For the second week in a row, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's volleyball team plays just one match. This time, the Panthers welcome Youngstown State to the Klotsche Center for a Friday night contest.

• About The Opponent
For the second-straight week, UWM has just a single match on its weekly slate.

Youngstown State is 4-10 overall and 2-2 in league play after a successful weekend. The Penguins won a pair of five-set matches, beating Loyola Friday night and UIC Saturday afternoon. YSU's Ruth Boscaljon is hitting .370 with 181 kills.

• Great To Be Back Home
UWM will be making a rare appearance on its homecourt Friday night. In fact, the Panthers haven't played at home since the Panther Invitational Sept. 11-12 and won't play at home again until Oct. 16. In all, UWM is playing seven of its first eight Horizon League contests on the road. Milwaukee does have quite the homecourt record on the line Friday night, as the Panthers have won 128 of their last 146 home matches overall and have a 37-match home league winning streak. It hasn't been too bad for UWM to be away from home, either. UWM has gone 20-5 in its last 25 league road matches and, if you include neutral-site contests, is 29-15 in its last 44 matches away from the Klotsche Center.

• About Last Week
UWM played just one match this past week and the Panthers made it a good one. Jena Berg had 12 kills to lead a balanced attack and Milwaukee put forth a stellar defensive effort to claim a four-set win over Green Bay Friday night at the Kress Events Center. The Panthers tallied 110 digs and 10 blocks in the win, limiting Green Bay to a .144 hitting clip.

• Dominating The In-State Rival
The win at Green Bay Friday added to UWM's stellar record against its in-state league rival. Milwaukee has now won 31 of the last 34 meetings between the two schools. The run has included UWM winning streaks of nine and 18 matches.

• Defense ... Defense ... Defense
UWM has been known for its tremendous defensive efforts over the years, and Friday's win in Green Bay was no different. Milwaukee's 110 digs marked a season high, but fell short of the school-record of 123 (set at Eastern Illinois in 1990). Still, the tally was the most for the Panthers since collecting 114 in a five-set win over Syracuse in 2007. Meanwhile, UWM limiting Green Bay to a .144 hitting clip, the ninth time this season the Panthers have held an opponent under .200.

• Lovin' Lauren
Lauren Felsing has put together a long list of memorable performances during her four-year Panther career, but the senior libero outdid herself Friday night. Felsing collected 40 digs, a collegiate high and a UWM record for a four-set match. Milwaukee's all-time record is 41, set by Becky Peters against George Washington in 2005. The league record is 45 by Jessica Taylor of Butler against UIC in 1989. In spite of having her extended double-figure digs streak snapped a few weeks ago against Alcorn State, she continues to extend her league-only streak. Felsing has now reached double figures in digs in 35-straight regular season league contests. She has also reached double figures in digs in her last five league tournament outings, meaning she has hit double-digits in her last 40 matches against league foes. Her play Friday earned her Horizon League Defensive Player of the Week honors.

• Welcome Back Maddie
Junior Maddie Sueppel returned to the Panther lineup and, as usual, made a difference in the middle. She tallied 10 kills and five blocks in the victory over Green Bay after missing both Chicago matches on the opening weekend of the league schedule because of a shoulder injury.

• A Few More Notes
Jena Berg has reached double figures in kills in nine of her last 12 matches and has eight double-doubles in that stretch ... Mary Beth O'Brien tied a collegiate-high with nine kills in the win over Green Bay Friday ... freshman Anna Bartz had 15 digs in the victory over the Phoenix, a collegiate-best for her ... Samantha Trawitztke's 18 digs Friday was also a collegiate-best.

On Background
• What An Opening Challenge
UWM opened the 2009 season with a pair of matches against #13 Iowa State. It marked the first time the Panthers have ever opened a Division I season with two-straight matches against a ranked foe. The Cyclones were able to avenge their five-set loss to the Panthers last season in Milwaukee with a pair of three-set victories in Ames.

• Record-Setter
One of UWM's wins this year came in impressive fashion, as the Panthers opened the first set on a 10-0 run en route to a three-set sweep of Alcorn State. Milwaukee hit a school-record .474 in the match, besting a .471 effort against Seneca in 1990. The win was also the 50th UWM head coaching win for Susie Johnson.

• Block Party
Maddie Sueppel and her team each set new school records for blocking in UWM's loss to Marquette Sept. 12. Sueppel's record-setting performance included 19 total blocks (2 solo, 17 assists), the most by a Panther in a match of any length in the school's Division I history. The previous high was 17, set by Liz House during a five-set match in 1990. It also set a new Horizon League record, and earned Sueppel league defensive player of the week honors. UWM's 23 total blocks against Marquette was also a school-record for a four-set match.

• Snapping A Long Streak
The one down side to the dominance of Alcorn State was the lack of dig opportunities for libero Lauren Felsing, who saw her 61-match double-figure dig streak snapped when she had just five digs in the contest. In fact, no Panther reached double figures in the category and Alcorn State had just 58 attack opportunities. Felsing has been back in double figures in digs in eight of nine matches since.

• League Starts
The Sept. 18 win at Loyola gave UWM its 12th win in its last 14 Horizon League openers. Ironically, the last time the Panthers didn't win their league opener was 2005, when Milwaukee also opened its season in Chicago. As for its 1-1 opening weekend in league play, UWM started that 2005 league campaign 0-2 but bounced back to win the league title. And, in 2002, Milwaukee dropped its league opener but won its next 10 league contests en route to an 11-3 conference mark.

• Not Used To Being Swept
The Sept. 19 three-set loss at UIC brought to mind just how dominant the Panthers have been in the Horizon League over the years. That's because it was the first three-set sweep UWM has suffered in league play since 2005, when Loyola claimed a 3-0 win over Milwaukee. And, dating back to 2002, UWM has been swept just twice in league contests.

• High Expectations
UWM has been picked to win the 2009 Horizon League championship. The Panthers, who have won the last six regular season titles, received seven of nine first-place votes and totaled 63 points in the poll. Last season, the Panthers exceeded preseason expectations after being picked third in the poll. UWM wound up winning the regular season title and then won three matches in the league tournament to secure an NCAA Tournament berth. Valparaiso, which finished just behind the Panthers in last year's standings, was picked second in the poll. The Crusaders, who return league player of the year Angie Porche, received a pair of first-place votes. Cleveland State, who was picked to win the title last season and who UWM beat in the league tournament title match, finished third in the poll. Butler and Wright State rounded out the top five in the preseason survey.

• Experience Matters
One year after fielding one of the youngest teams in the country, the Panthers return all but one starter and 12 of 14 letterwinners. Two of the returnees made the All-Horizon League squad, with senior Lauren Felsing and junior Maddie Sueppel both recognized last season. Meanwhile, two other returnees made the league's all-newcomer team, with Samantha Trawitzke and Kerri Schuh both honored last year.

• Welcome Aboard
UWM's impact newcomer is Tennessee transfer Jena Berg. The former Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Player of the Year sat out last season after transferring to Milwaukee in January of 2008 and has two seasons of eligibility remaining. Berg is starting at outside hitter for the Panthers.

• Senior Leadership
Milwaukee has a pair of seniors on its 2009 roster. Lauren Felsing has gained a reputation of being one of the best liberos in the Midwest. In addition to her all-league recognition, Felsing claimed honorable mention all-region honors from the American Volleyball Coaches' Association. She was also a three-time winner of the Horizon League's Defensive Player of the Week award and she set a new single-season UWM digs record. She is third on Milwaukee's all-time list. Meanwhile, Kellye Zaporski has been a regular at both setter and in the back row throughout her career. She began the 2009 season with nearly 1,600 assists.

• Winning Ways
The 2008 season allowed the Panthers to add to their already stellar numbers over the past decade-plus. Milwaukee has now won six-straight outright league titles, something no other league school has ever accomplished. It was also UWM's 10th overall crown, easily the most among league schools. UWM has now won at least 11 league matches for 12-straight seasons while never losing more than three league contests during that same time. In that time span, Milwaukee has built a 146-18 record in regular season league play. UWM also pushed its overall win total to 23, which marked its 11th 20-win season in the last 12 years. Finally, UWM entered the NCAA Tournament riding an eight-match winning streak, meaning the Panthers have had a winning streak of seven or more matches in 12-straight seasons.

• An Academic Standout
Junior Lauren Felsing earned CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Second-Team Academic All-America honors last season. Felsing carries a 3.98 grade-point average in marketing. Felsing also earned academic all-region and academic all-league recognition in addition to being a three-time U.S. Army Horizon League Scholar-Athlete of the Week honoree. She also earned Horizon League All-Academic honors along with teammate Becky Peters.