Susie Johnson
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Panthers Set To Square Off With In-State Rival
UWM makes short trip to Green Bay for lone match this week
Sept. 29, 2008
Fri. Oct. 3 • @ Green Bay (5-8, 1-2 Horizon) • 7 pm • Kress Center
Of Note: Phoenix split two home league matches last weekend; two teams played first-ever volleyball match at Kress Center last year, with UWM claiming a 3-2 win
The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's volleyball team will make the short trip up I-43 to face Green Bay in its lone match this week. The two teams will square off Friday at 7 p.m. at the Kress Events Center.
The Panthers (10-4, 3-0) are off to a perfect 3-0 start in league play after wins over Butler and Valparaiso this past weekend. UWM put together a balanced offensive attack and again excelled defensively, with Natalie Schmitting collecting Horizon League Defensive Player of the Week honors.
Green Bay split two five-set matches this past weekend, beating Valpo Friday before falling to Butler Saturday. The Phoenix have also lost to Wright State and play UIC Tuesday.
While this week includes just one match, the rest is short-lived. The Panthers will play four matches the following week, with contests on Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday.
• The Week Ahead
The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's volleyball team plays just one match this week, heading north to Green Bay for a Friday night contest with the Phoenix.
• Scouting The Phoenix
Green Bay split two league matches this past weekend and the Phoenix are 2-3 at the Kress Center this season entering a Tuesday contest with UIC. Holly Visser leads the offense with 3.19 kills per set and Megan Elfering tops the defensive charts at 5.67 digs per set, while Liesl Tesch was named the league's offensive player of the week Monday. UWM swept the season series between the two teams a year ago.
• Top Of The League
Milwaukee is getting into the Horizon League portion of its schedule looking to start the path toward a sixth-straight league regular season title. The five-straight crowns are already the best stretch in league history. UWM's stellar league tradition now includes a 136-15 record in league play since 1997, while head coach Susie Johnson is up to 18-1 in league regular season matches. The Panthers have not finished below second place in the league or lost more than three league matches since 1996.
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• Wrapping Up The Week Past
UWM claimed a pair of four-set wins over this past weekend, dropping Butler Friday night before knocking off Valparaiso Saturday afternoon. Against the Bulldogs, the Panthers controlled the first two sets then, after dropping the third set, had to fight hard in pulling away in the fourth frame. Meanwhile Saturday, the two teams split the first two sets before Milwaukee was dominant in sets three and four. Butler and Valpo combined to hit just .086 against the Panthers.
• Collecting Another Honor
For the second week in a row and the third time this season, a UWM player has earned Horizon League Player of the Week honors. This time it is sophomore Natalie Schmitting collecting defensive player of the week honors after leading the Panthers to a pair of victories this past weekend. She averaged 1.88 blocks per set in the two wins, including a season-best nine blocks in Saturday's win over Valpo. Her defensive efforts led the charge for another great defensive weekend for the Panthers, as Butler and Valpo combined to hit just .086 with 57 hitting errors. Schmitting also pitched in on offensively Saturday, recording 12 kills with a .647 hitting clip. For the season, she is third on the team in kills while standing second in both blocks and hitting percentage.
• Senior Salute
Becky Peters continues to do her part as the lone senior in UWM's roster. In two matches this past week, she averaged 3.62 kills per set and 3.50 digs per set. Already this season, Peters has become UWM's all-time digs leader, and she now has 1,662 digs. She earned league offensive player of the week honors a week ago, while also collecting U.S. Army League Scholar-Athlete honors that same week. The offensive player of the week award was the first of her career after winning the defensive honor six times. In all, Peters has reached double figures in kills in every match this season while collecting 12 double-doubles.
• Diggin' It
The Panthers were expected to be stellar in the back row this season and a large group of players continues to come through. In fact, the Panthers are averaging over 16 digs per set overall and 20 digs per set in three league contests. Already this season, the Panthers have outdug Wright State by 30 digs (84-54) and Butler by 27 (95-68). Those two advantages are the biggest in the category for the Panthers since the 1999 season, when UWM outdug Butler by 30 and Loyola by 29.
• And Let's Throw A Block Party, Too
UWM's front row has begun to provide a steady defensive compliment to the strong back row. The Panthers tied a season-high with 14 blocks in the win over Valparaiso Saturday, the fifth time UWM has reached double figures in blocks this season. Overall, just three opponents (Illinois State, Michigan State and Oregon State) have hit better than .200 against UWM so far this season while 10 others have hit less than .150. For the year, opponents are hitting .139 against the Panthers.
• Going Streaking!
UWM's early league victories have already extended a pair of winning streaks, with the Panthers having now won eight-straight over Butler and 13-straight over Wright State. This week, Milwaukee will be looking to extend a string of nine-straight wins over Green Bay. UWM also has a 16-match winning streak against Youngstown State and a six-match streak against UIC.
• Outstanding In October
Not that there was anything wrong with September, but the Panthers should be excited about seeing the calendar turn to October. UWM went a perfect 8-0 in October last season and is now 92-7 in the month over the last 11 seasons.
• Win And Carry On
The Panthers haven't been much for giving up the match lead in recent seasons. In fact, including the two contests this past weekend, UWM has now won 49-straight matches when winning the first set. This string includes eight matches this season, 20 more a season ago and 21 in 2006. The first match of that 2006 season is the last time UWM didn't turn a 1-0 lead into a match victory, with Winthrop recovering from a 1-0 deficit to claim a 3-2 win.
• Lots And Lots Of Lauren
Lauren Felsing continues to gain recognition as one of the top liberos in the Midwest. She earned all-tournament honors twice during the first three weeks of the season and was the league defensive player of the week after week one. She has now moved to within 10 digs of 1,000 for her career and she has reached double figures in digs in 39-straight matches dating back to last season.
• Getting Others Involved
One of the other keys to the early-season success a young Panther team has enjoyed is the variety of people stepping up with big performances at key times. This week, Lauren Hintze, Kellye Zaporski and Sam Trawitzke all took a turn in the spotlight. Hintze reached double figures in digs in each match this past week and has now gotten to double figures in four-straight outings. Zaporski, meanwhile, had the best defensive outing of her career Friday against Butler, collecting a collegiate-best 22 digs. Trawitzke, spending time as both a setter and a hitter of late, collected seven kills, nine digs and 32 assists Friday.
• The Young Ones
UWM is counting on plenty of youth in 2008, with 12 freshmen and sophomores among the 15 active players on the roster. Those youngsters have wasted little time getting involved over the first month. Three different true freshmen (Mary Beth O'Brien, Morgan Potter and Sam Trawitzke) have already earned starts this season, while sophomores Natalie Schmitting and Maddie Sueppel plus redshirt freshman Kerri Schuh have started every match for the Panthers this season. All 14 healthy and available players have made appearances in at least four matches for the Panthers, with only freshman Morgan Kilberger (shoulder injury) yet to see action. The youth is being counted on for offense in particular, with 492 of UWM's 727 kills (67.7 percent) in the first 14 matches of the season coming from freshmen and sophomores.
• The Early-Season Notebook
UWM's title in the Wingate by Wyndham Invitational marks the third-straight year where the Panthers have won an in-season tournament crown. In all, Milwaukee has won 10 in-season tournaments in the last 12 years and has a 77-42 record during in-season tournaments over that time period ... UWM's win over then-#18 Iowa State Aug. 29 marked the Panthers first win over a ranked for since 1999, when then-#9 Wisconsin left the Klotsche Center a loser. And, it is just Milwaukee's second win over a ranked foe since the Panthers moved to Division I in 1990 ... UWM has now won five-straight matches against teams from the Big East ... UWM has won 10 of its last 13 true road matches and 14 of its last 15 league road contests. If you include neutral-site contests, UWM has won 18 of its last 22 matches away from the Klotsche Center ... Milwaukee has won 12 of its 14 Horizon League openers ... the Panthers have now won 121 of their last 136 home matches overall and have a 31-match home regular season league winning streak.
• Claiming Tourney Honors
Four different UWM players were honored for tournament performances this season. At the Wingate by Wyndham Invitational Sept. 5-6, Becky Peters was named the most outstanding player while Lauren Felsing and Maddie Sueppel joined her on the all-tournament team. Then at the MSU Showcase Sept. 11-12, Felsing and Natalie Schmitting were honored.
• Fighting For Another Title
UWM has been picked to finish third in the Horizon League this season in poll of the league's coaches. The Panthers have won the last five regular season league crowns and are still thought of as a title contender despite losing five seniors from a season ago. Cleveland State was the league preseason favorite with Valparaiso picked second.
• Smart Kids
UWM's academic awards continue to pile up. The team received the AVCA Team Academic Award in July after the Panthers posted a team GPA of 3.411. UWM's success in school extends throughout its roster, as 12 players on last year's team finished the school year with a cume GPA of 3.0 or better and seven of those players posting better than a 3.5 GPA. Following the 2007 season, Leanne Felsing earned ESPN The Magazine Academic All-Region recognition while Leanne and her sister, Lauren, each earned Horizon League All-Academic honors. Lauren and Becky Peters have also since captured U.S. Army Horizon League Scholar-Athlete of the Week honors this season.
• Up Next
UWM goes from a quiet week to its busiest week of the season, playing four matches in a span of six days. The Panthers will host Loyola and UIC during the week before heading to Youngstown State and Cleveland State over the weekend.
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