Kellye Zaporski
|
|
First-Place Panthers Back Home To Host Raiders
UWM plays just one match this week after winning four last week
Oct. 13, 2008
Sat. Oct. 18 • Wright State • 4 pm • Klotsche Center
Of Note: Raiders open week tied for second place in league standings with Butler; UWM won first meeting in Dayton
The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's volleyball team plays just one match this week, welcoming Wright State to the Klotsche Center for a Saturday afternoon contest.
The Panthers (14-5, 7-1 League) are coming off their busiest and most successful week of the season, as UWM claims wins in four matches played over six days. After hard-fought home wins over Loyola and UIC Tuesday and Wednesday, the Panthers made the trip to northeast Ohio and downed both Youngstown State and Cleveland State.
UWM received a wide variety of contributions offensively while Lauren Felsing was named the league defensive player of the week for the second time this season.
Thanks to its four-straight victories, UWM finds itself alone atop the Horizon League standings, leading both Wright State and Butler by two matches. Three other teams have four losses at the midway point.
Printable Weekly Notes
• The Week Ahead
The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's volleyball team plays just one match this week, welcoming Wright State to the Klotsche Center for a Saturday afternoon contest.
• Scouting The Raiders
Wright State begins the second half of league play tied for second place with Butler, two matches back of the front-running Panthers. After dropping nine of their first 11 matches of the season - a stretch capped off by a loss to UWM - the Raiders have won six of their last nine outings. Five players have at least 150 kills for Wright State, while three players have over 200 digs. The Raiders do play Indiana State Tuesday and Green Bay Friday before coming to Milwaukee Saturday.
• Pretty In Pink
Saturday's match with Wright State is part of the first-ever "Pink Out" at UWM. The "Pink Out" is a joint venture between the UWM community and the athletics department to promote breast cancer awareness, celebrate the survivors and support progress toward a cure. Both the women's soccer match Friday with Butler and Saturday's volleyball match are part of the event, with a free youth clinic each day. The volleyball clinic runs from 2-3 p.m. at the Klotsche Center. For more information on the event, or to buy tickets, call the Panther Ticket Office at 414-229-5886.
• Wrapping Up The Past Week
UWM met the challenge of four matches in six days head on. The first-place Panthers won a four-set match with Loyola and a five-set thriller with UIC Tuesday and Wednesday at the Klotsche Center, then swept a pair of matches in Ohio over the weekend. In the four victories, UWM's serving and defense played a key role. The Panthers had 27 aces in four contests to just 13 for its opponents, while Milwaukee averaged nearly 20 digs per set in the four wins.
• Senior Salute
Becky Peters continues to do her part as the lone senior on UWM's roster. Peters again had a double-double in every match last week, extending her streak to 11-straight double-doubles. She has also reached double figures in kills in every match this season. On top of that, Peters has surpassed 1,700 career digs and is closing in on the all-time Horizon League mark. She has 1,736 digs entering this week, just six off the league record of 1,742 set by Ann Deelo of Loyola from 2003-2006. On the season, Peters is second in the league in kills and eighth in digs.
• Lots And Lots Of Lauren
Lauren Felsing continues to gain recognition as one of the top liberos in the Midwest. For the second time this season, Felsing has been named the Horizon League Defensive Player of the Week. This time, she earned recognition after averaging 6.44 digs per set in UWM's four victories. Plus, she had just two receiving errors in 131 attempts, a 98.5 percent success ratio. Felsing has now reached double figures in digs in 44-straight contests, tied for the third-longest active streak in the country. On the season, she ranks second in the league and 10th in the country in digs per set. And, she has 1,126 career digs, tied for seventh on UWM's all-time list.
• Diggin' It
The Panthers expected to be strong in the back row and a large group of players have made that come true. The Panthers are averaging more than 17 digs per set overall and just under 20 digs per set in league play. 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. UWM leads the league and stands sixth in the country in digs per set.
• 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 reached double figures in blocks three more times this past week and have now hit double digits eight times 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 11 others have hit less than .150. For the year, opponents are hitting .146 against the Panthers, the best mark in the league, while UIC's .176 hitting clip Wednesday is actually the best by a league opponent against UWM this season. Up front, Natalie Schmitting and Maddie Sueppel each rank in the top 10 in the league in blocks.
• Listing The League Honors
In addition to Lauren Felsing being honored by the league Monday, UWM has had players recognized three other times this season as players of the week in the Horizon League. Felsing also earned recognition as the defensive player of the week after the first week of the season. The highlight of that weekend for Felsing was a 29-dig effort against nationally-ranked Iowa State. Becky Peters then won offensive player of the week honors in mid-September after breaking UWM's all-time digs record while collecting a collegiate-best 24 kills against Oregon State. Finally, Natalie Schmitting won defensive honors Sept. 29 after averaging 1.88 blocks per set in a pair of league wins.
• Getting Others Involved
One of the other keys to the success a young Panther team has enjoyed this season is the variety of people stepping up with big performances at key times. This past week, Kerri Schuh and Kellye Zaporski moved their way back into the spotlight. Schuh equaled her collegiate-high with a team-best 13 kills at Cleveland State Sunday after collecting 12 kills against UIC Wednesday. Meanwhile, Zaporski responded well to the opportunity for more time at setter, collecting 39 assists, 15 digs, four kills and five aces in the three-set win over Youngstown Saturday before adding 42 assists and eight digs Sunday in the win at Cleveland State. The contributions of defense specialist Lauren Hintze can also not be overlooked, as she has reached double figures in digs in nine of her last 11 outings.
• Serving Up A Winner
UWM's performance at the service line can be identified as another key to the Panthers' success. Milwaukee has 101 aces to just 112 errors this season, compared to its opponents 77 aces and 150 errors. The Panthers have a 93.6 percent success ratio serves, while in serve-receive libero Lauren Felsing has just 17 receive errors in 545 opportunities (96.9 percent).
• 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-plus. 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 five 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 679 of UWM's 999 kills (68 percent) in 19 matches 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 won five-straight matches against teams from the Big East ... UWM has won 12 of its last 16 true road matches and 16 of its last 18 league road contests. If you include neutral-site contests, UWM has won 20 of its last 25 matches away from the Klotsche Center ... Milwaukee has won 12 of its 14 Horizon League openers ... the Panthers have now won 123 of their last 138 home matches overall and have a 33-match home regular season league winning streak ... Milwaukee is now 96-8 in October over the last 11-plus season ... UWM had won 16-straight matches in October until the loss at Green Bay Oct. 3 ... the Panthers had also won 49-straight matches when winning the first set until losing at Green Bay after leading 2-0. That streak dated back to the beginning of the 2006 campaign.
• 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 was 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, while Felsing was also named the league's scholar-athlete of the month for September.
• Up Next
The Panthers will embark on another busy road week. UWM plays at Marquette Monday night before heading to Valparaiso Friday night and Butler Saturday afternoon.
|
