Susie Johnson
|
|
Panthers Wrap Up Stellar 2008 Season
UWM wins 23 matches, makes seventh NCAA appearance
Dec. 18, 2008
The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's volleyball team put together a stellar 2008 season.
Taking the court with 12 freshmen and sophomores on the roster, the Panthers knocked off 18th-ranked Iowa State on the opening weekend. Two months later, Milwaukee started an eight-match winning streak that pushed them to the Horizon League regular season title and the league tournament crown. The regular season championship was the sixth in a row for UWM, while the tourney title was the fifth in school history. The Panthers also made the NCAA Tournament for the seventh time.
UWM wound up having three players earn all-league honors, with senior Becky Peters honored alongside junior Lauren Felsing and sophomore Maddie Sueppel. Plus, freshmen Kerri Schuh and Samantha Trawitzke captured spots on the league's all-newcomer team. Then, following UWM's three victories in the league tournament, Sueppel earned tournament most valuable player honors and was joined on the all-tournament team by Felsing and Kerri Schuh.
On the sidelines, head coach Susie Johnson earned league coach of the year honors for the second-straight time and has now won 49 matches in her two seasons in charge of the program.
Printable Notes and Stats
• Summing Up The Regular Season
No one quite knew what to expect from the Panthers in 2008, as they were picked third in the Horizon League after losing five seniors from the 26-3 squad of 2007. But, Milwaukee served notice on the first weekend it was a force to be reckoned with, as the Panthers knocked off then-#18 Iowa State. UWM wound up claiming seven non-league wins against a difficult slate and carried that momentum into league play. The Panthers were 8-1 before a weekend road trip to Valpo and Butler dropped them back to 8-3. But, UWM bounced back to win its final five league contests and clinch its sixth-straight regular season league crown.
• League Tourney Wrap-Up
UWM claimed three wins at the Horizon League Tournament in Cleveland to capture its fifth league tourney title and seventh NCAA Tournament berth. The Panthers swept UIC in the quarterfinal round before winning a five-set thriller against Butler in the semifinals. UWM trailed 2-1 in the contest before controlling the fourth and fifth sets. Then, in the title match, Milwaukee found itself matched up against the hosts from Cleveland State, the defending tournament champions and a team picked to win the league title before stumbling to a sixth-place finish. UWM again found itself down 2-1 and had to fight off a pair of match-point chances for the Vikings before a Natalie Schmitting kill sealed things for the Panthers.
• Plenty Of All-League Honors
UWM's regular-season success led to five players earning post-season recognition from the Horizon League. Three players made the all-league team, with senior Becky Peters joined by junior Lauren Felsing and sophomore Maddie Sueppel. Plus, freshmen Kerri Schuh and Samantha Trawitzke each earned a slot on the league's all-newcomer team. UWM has now placed 10 players on the all-league team in the last three years alone while also landing four on the all-newcomer squad over the last two seasons.
• Always Our Coach Of The Year
For the second-straight season, UWM head coach Susie Johnson earned Horizon League Coach of the Year honors. This time, the second-year head coach was recognized after directing a team with 12 freshmen and sophomores to the top of the league standings. The numbers in Johnson's two seasons are astounding, as she has a 49-12 overall record and a 28-4 mark in league play.
• All-Tourney Time
UWM's Horizon League Tournament championship run helped three Panthers earn a place on the all-tournament team. Maddie Sueppel was named the tournament's most valuable player and was joined on the all-tourney squad by Lauren Felsing and Kerri Schuh. Sueppel averaged 3.54 kills per set while hitting .346 in the three victories. Her weekend included 17 kills and a collegiate-best 11 blocks in the title match. Felsing averaged 4.77 digs per set, including 25 digs apiece in the quarterfinal and semifinal victories. Schuh averaged 2.69 kills per set and hit .372 over the weekend, collecting a collegiate-best 16 kills in the semifinal victory over Butler.
• Youth = Success
The Panthers' success in 2008 makes it easy to forget just how young of a squad UWM fielded this past season. Twelve of the 16 players on the roster were either freshmen or sophomores, and Milwaukee had just one senior. Among those youngsters, freshman Kerri Schuh and sophomores Natalie Schmitting and Maddie Sueppel started every match. Plus, sophomores Natalie Chery and Lauren Hintze were regulars in the rotation and freshman Samantha Trawitzke became UWM's main setter. Freshmen Melissa Jansen and Mary Beth O'Brien also saw regular playing time off the bench. The youth was counted on for offense in particular, with 1167 of UWM's 1632 kills (71.5 percent) in 32 matches coming from freshmen and sophomores.
• 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.
• Senior Salute
Becky Peters did her part as the lone senior this year. She finished her career as both UWM's and the Horizon League's all-time digs leader and finished tied for second on UWM's all-time matches played list (120). Her dig total wound up at 1,875 and she reached double figures in digs in 109 of her 120 career matches. In 2008, Peters reached double figures in kills 26 times while recording 21 double-doubles.
• Lots And Lots Of Lauren
Lauren Felsing continues to gain recognition as one of the top liberos in the Midwest, earning 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 in addition to her spots on the all-league and league all-tournament teams. She set a new single-season UWM digs record Nov. 8 in the match with Youngstown State and finished the year with 645 digs. She has now reached double figures in digs in 57-straight contests and she has 1,357 career digs, putting her third on UWM's all-time list.
• Also An Academic Standout
Junior Lauren Felsing earned CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Second-Team Academic All-America honors this past 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 last season. The honors for Felsing are just some of many academic awards for the Panthers in recent months. 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. Plus, Becky Peters also claimed league scholar-athlete of the week honors earlier this year and joined Felsing on this year's league all-academic squad.
• Monsters In The Middle
Maddie Sueppel and Natalie Schmitting had a major impact on the Panthers' offense late in the season. Sueppel reached double figures in kills in seven of her last nine matches while hitting .375 or better five times. In all, she was in double figures in kills in 12 of 16 league contests and in 21 matches overall. Schmitting, meanwhile, reached double figures in four of her last seven matches, hitting better than .600 twice in that span. She also reached double figures in kills 12 times overall.
• Getting Others Involved
One of the other keys to the success a young Panther team enjoyed this season was the variety of people stepping up with big performances at key times. UWM had 12 different players earn at least one start, while four players (Becky Peters, Maddie Sueppel, Natalie Schmitting and Lauren Felsing) started all 32 matches. Meanwhile, six different players had at least one double-figure kill match while six different players had at least one double-figure dig outing.
• Other Items In The Notebook
Kerri Schuh had 265 kills, the fifth-best tally by a freshman in school history ... her 94 blocks this season also rank her fourth on that school freshman list ... Sam Trawitzke's 750 assists place her fourth on UWM's freshman list ... the Panthers have now won 37-straight home regular season league matches, with their last home regular season league loss coming in 2003 ... UWM's win over then-#18 Iowa State Aug. 29 marked the Panthers first win over a ranked foe 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 18 of its last 22 league regular season road contests ... 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 ... four different UWM players were honored for regular-season tournament performances this season. Becky Peters was named the most outstanding player at Bradley while Lauren Felsing and Maddie Sueppel joined her on the all-tournament team. Then at Michigan State, Felsing and Natalie Schmitting were honored.
|
