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Post by skrapheap on Apr 24, 2015 11:47:30 GMT -6
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Post by skrapheap on Apr 30, 2015 5:02:10 GMT -6
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Post by skrapheap on May 11, 2015 14:24:59 GMT -6
With the addition of Northern Kentucky University to the Horizon League, the Panthers will be back to 16 regular season League matches on their 2015 schedule.
According to last year's media guide, the Panthers have not played NKU in volleyball previously. The last two additions to the league, Valpo and Oakland, have been quality additions in volleyball competition. And Youngstown State has been a solid performer for the last two seasons as well.
It will be very interesting to see what the addition of NKU does to the competitive balance in volleyball. If the league aspires to earn multiple NCAA bids on a regular basis, the member teams need to get stronger, and to perform well in nonleague play, especially against stonger opponents. i hope NKU is able to help the league achieve that.
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Post by skrapheap on May 14, 2015 16:52:54 GMT -6
Here's an early, non-expert look at the 2015 Roster.
Seniors: Maggie Dunbar, Taylor Gruber, Sammi Herron, Nicole Latzig, Kayla Price
Juniors: Taylor Mansfield, Kaisa Mattson, Myanna Ruiz, Maddie Schmitz
Sophomores: Jessica Kalous, Mykie Olson
Freshmen: Celine Jones, Caitlyn Schultz, Teagan Taylor, Maddie Williams
The first thing that jumps out at me is that this will be a veteran squad: nine of fifteen players are upperclassmen.
Among the seniors, everything will start with Kayla Price, the starting setter. She is a good one, and the coaching staff has a lot of trust in her. Dunbar and Latzig have been regular contributors over their years at UWM, and both have had matches where they lead the team in one or more statistical categories. Latzig has been a stronger defender; Dunbar is a threat to score points. Taylor Gruber stepped in very capably as setter on the rare occasions when Price was not available due to injury or illness. Herron has seen limited court time, but has contributed when called on. I have heard speculation, on and off, that Coach Johnson would like to run a 6-2 offense, which puts two setters on the court at the same time. Gruber did play well when called on, but other players might also get an opportunity to set if the Panthers go with a 6-2 lineup.
Among the juniors, Myanna Ruiz has been a major contributor in her first two seasons, on both offense and defense, though she was not called on as much for offense last season. Her ability to play both means that she stays on the court as much as possible. She also filled in as a setter some last year; such flexibility is highly sought after. Since the Panthers lost their leader, Julie Kolinske, to graduation, Ruiz will probably be called on more this year. Kaisa Mattson started the year slowly, but worked her way into the lineup by season's end. She is one of the taller returning players, and has contributed on defense more than offense. Maddie Schmitz has been a fixture in the back row, contributing to the strength of the squad's defense. It will be interesting to see who Coach Johnson tries in the back row, and who she chooses. Ruiz and Schmitz will probably have an inside track to starting spots, although there are other candidates among the underclassmen. Mansfield, a junior college transfer, started school in the Spring semester and had the opportunity to practice and play Spring volleyball. Coach Johnson tries as much as possible to get new players on campus in time to play spring ball, so Mansfield will have that advantage on the other new players, along with her prior experience.
Among the sophomores, Mykie Olson got into the starting lineup as the libero early last season as a freshman and stayed there. If she doesn't continue as libero, she will be in the mix as a defensive specialist. She joined the team with a reputation as a good server. Jess Kalous saw little court time in her first, but got to play more in the front row as the season progressed. With a full season plus the spring practices, she will have an opportunity to find a spot in the rotation.
The freshman class is intriguing. Caitlin Schultz is very tall: 6'4" or 6'5". Players of that height are not often seen on Horizon League rosters. She also entered school in January, so she had the advantage of getting in on the Spring program. Teagan Taylor was a libero in high school, playing for state power Burlington, and Coach Johnson has not hesitated to play younger players if she feels they are ready, so she will probably be in the mix at libero, and will at least have a chance to play in the back row. Maddie Williams is a 6' tall front row player. Johnson likes her quickness and jumping ability, so Williams will have an opportunity to play. If the past is any indication, the freshmen will be given an opportunity to get used to D1 play before being called on, but as I said, Coach Johnson will put a freshman in the starting lineup right away if she feels the player is ready to contribute from day one. Celine Jones plays multiple positions, and flexibility is a big plus from Coach Johnson's perspective.
Coach Johnson has red-shirted players when she felt it was a good idea, or if it was necessary. I have no information about whether or not anyone on the 2015 roster would be a candidate for a redshirt, but it might help to balance the roster a bit more.
I won't speculate about preseason rankings this early, beyond saying that by winning the regular season and the tournament in 2014, Oakland will be the likely top pick in the coaches poll. They didn't lose a lot of players to graduation from last season to this, so they should continue to be a strong contender.
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Post by skrapheap on Jun 25, 2015 11:02:11 GMT -6
In 2015, the Panthers continue their tradition of challenging themselves in the non-league season as a means of preparing for the league season. The schedule is available at mkepanthers.com/schedule.aspx?schedule=254A veteran squad will see a lot of challenging competition early in the season, and after opening the season with their own tournament, will spend the month of September on the road.
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Post by skrapheap on Aug 25, 2015 14:39:09 GMT -6
Finally, the start of the season is almost here. The Panthers open their season this weekend at home, hosting three 20-win programs from last year in Western Michigan, Furman and Missouri State. Of the three, only Western Michigan made the NCAA D1 tournament in 2014, and they were swept in the first round by UW-Madison. A home tournament will be a chance to get off to a good start before their own fans.
After this weekend, the next home match is the fourth match of the league season, the first weekend in October. The Panthers will host Wright State and Northern Kentucky. The weekend previous, the Panthers face 2014 league champ Oakland, perennial contender Cleveland State, and Youngstown State (who finished in the top half of the league the last two years), all on the road, in successive nights. That's either a sign of respect from the league's schedule-makers, or an attempt make the road as tough as possible. The Panthers host the same three teams in the same order at home three weeks later.
The rest of the non-league schedule has the Panthers playing in tournaments hosted by North Dakota State, and Big Ten teams Iowa and Northwestern, and a single match against Marquette at Marquette in midst of league play.
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Post by skrapheap on Aug 27, 2015 18:31:29 GMT -6
The pre-season polls are in. Oakland, who won the regular season and league tournament titles in 2014, was picked to win the titles again in 2015. They got all but one of the first place votes in the poll, and the one first place vote they did not get was because their coach can vote for them under the rules of the poll.
The Panthers finished solidly in second, and got the remaining first place vote.
The Panthers placed one player on the pre-swason all-league team: Kayla Price, who has been elected every year she has been a Panther.
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Post by skrapheap on Aug 28, 2015 15:24:16 GMT -6
In looking at the program for the Pepsi Panther Invitational tournament, i notice the the Panther roster has the most experience of the teams playing, with nine juniors and seniors out of 15 total. That doesn't automatically translate into wins, but it does mean that the five new players have lots of help adjusting to the expectations on them. It will be interesting to see how quickly the adjustment takes place.
The first match of the tournament features the Missouri State Bears, the youngest and tallest team in the tournament, against the Furman Paladins, the next most experienced squad. Set one went to the Bears. 27-25. Furman got off to a slower start but came on at the end, fighting off two set points and getting their own set point advantage at 25-24. The Bears were equal to the task, and but together three points to take the set. Furman played better volleyball to begin set two, building and maintaining a six point lead to the midpoint of the set and past, forcing Missouri State to use both their timeouts. The Bears then began chipping away at the lead, narrowing it to three points. The Paladins got the lead back to six after a timeout, when the Bears began their winning rally, pulling eventually into a tie at 22. Furman retook the lead at 23-22, but the Bears scored three straight to take the set, and a two-zero lead in sets to the break. The third set was fairly evenly played, but the Bears pulled away at the end to sweep the match, winning set three 25-21. An entertaining match to start the tournament.
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Post by skrapheap on Aug 28, 2015 17:53:47 GMT -6
Match two of the tournament pitted the Panthers against the Broncos of Western Michigan. The Panther roster on the program listed Myanna Ruiz as the the libero, partially answering one question. Caitlin Schultz, the tallest player on the roster, is listed as an outside hitter rather than a middle blocker. I'm sure she will be counted on defensively, but her being listed as an attacker primarily says something about Schultz's athleticism as well as the role she played in high school and club volleyball. The only setters on the team are seniors (Kayla Price and Taylor Gruber), which suggests that the coaching staff will be looking at setters when recruiting for next season and beyond.
The Panthers starting lineup for the match: Sammi Herron, Kayla Price, Maddie Williams (a freshman), Maddie Schmitz, Mykie Olson, Kaisa Mattson, and Ruiz as the libero.
The Broncos roster is slightly more than half younger players, with eight freshmen and sophomores. The height matchups appeared to be even.
Play at the start of set one was even but not sharp. The Panthers took the first timeout trailing 15-13. They were lead by Williams with four kills and Herron with three. Out of the timeout, the Panthers took a lead on three kills by transfer Taylor Mansfield. The Broncos took a timeout down 20-18. The Panthers continued to roll, and the Broncos took a timeout facing five set points. Price served the final point, on a back row attack, and the Panthers went one set up, 25-19.
The Broncos rebounded in set two, going up 10-6 and forcing a Panther timeout. The Panther weakness was passing off service reception. Out of the timeout, the Panthers put together a run to a 13-12 lead, and the teams traded points and leads to a 17-15 lead and a Bronco timeout. The Broncos closed and tied the score at 18, but three consecutive points by Milwaukee forced the second Bronco timeout. The Panthers again went up five set points at 24-19. The Broncos fought off two set points, but Herron's 10th kill sealed the win, 25-21, and sent the Panthers into the break up two sets to none. Mansfield had eight kills and Williams seven. The Panthers' block was not active, but the back row play was solid, out-digging the Broncos 39-26, which contributed to an advantage in hitting percentage for the Panthers. .297 to .173. The Panthers had five service aces to two for the Broncos, and committed only eight attack errors to eleven for the Broncos.
Milwaukee scored the first three points of set three, only to see Western Michigan reel off five points of their own, prompting the Panthers to call a timeout. The Panthers retook the lead, aided by a couple of Bronco errors, and play continued to be close. Mansfield's ninth kill and a solo block by Mattson kept the Panthers close, and Mansfield's tenth kill and Mattson's fourth kill tied the set at 14. Two Bronco points prompted the second Panther timeout. When play resumed, Williams's ninth and tenth kills and a Nicole Latzig block gave the Panthers an 18-17 lead and prompted a Bronco timeout. Play continued to be close, as Panther errors prevented a sustained run. The Broncos scored the last three points of the set and won 25-22. Herron had 12 kills for the match after three sets, followed by Mansfield and Williams (hitting .471 for the match) with 11.
Weatern Michigan started hot in set four, getting two blocks on the way to a 5-1 lead and the first Panther timeout. The Panthers then narrowed the lead to 6-5 on a Price ace, and took a brief lead on a Herron kill off an overpass. Back and forth play continued. With Olson serving, Milwaukee strung together points and took a 13-10 lead, forcing a Bronco timeout. The Broncos pulled into a tie when play resumed, and the Panthers took their second timeout trailing 17-15. The teams traded points until consecutive kills by Mansfield (numbers 13 and14) gave Milwaukee the lead. The Broncos tied the score again, but Herron's match-high 18th kill, a Herron/Williams block, and a Ruiz servce ace finished the set and the match, 25-22, and 3-1 in sets.
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Post by skrapheap on Aug 29, 2015 9:50:24 GMT -6
The third match of the tournament featured the Western Michigan Broncos and the Missouri State Bears. The Bears had the largest and loudest cheering section of the visiting teams.
Missouri State started fast, getting out to a 9-3 lead, forcing Westen Michigan to take a timeout. The Bears were able to maintain the six point margin when play resumed, but the Broncos were playing better and cut the lead to 16-13, before consecutive points by the Bears pushed the lead back to six. The second Bronco timeout came with the Bears up 20-13. The Bears were up eight at set point, and the Broncos were able to score once only before a kill finished the set 25-17.
In set two, it was the Broncos who got out to a quck start, prompting a Missouri State timeout with the Broncos leading 7-3. When play resumed Western Michigan's lead grew to eight at 13-5, prompting the second Bears timeout. After the Broncos pushed the lead to nine, the Bears began to chip away at the lead, cutting it to 19-14 before the Broncos took a timeout. The Bears were able to narrow the lead to 23-20, but a service error and a hitting error gave the Broncos set two, 25-20 to go into the break tied at one set each.
After a shortened break, Missouri State raced out to a 7-2 lead ito open set three. The Broncos narrowed the lead to three at 9-6, and again at 12-9. Consecutive points by the Broncos forced a Bear timeout with the lead cut to 13-12.The Broncos's run continued and they took an 18-15 lead, prompting the second Bears timeout. When the Bears cut the lead to 20-19, the Broncos took their second timeout. Back and forth play continued. The Bears fought off the first Bronco set point to tie the score at 24, but the Broncos took the set with a kill on their second set point opportunity.
Play in set four was back and forth to a tie at 10, when four Bears points, the last ending a long rally with good defensive work on both sides, prompted a Bronco timeout. The lead reached six at 16-10 and seven at 20-13, when the Broncos took their second timeout. The lead reached eight on a Bear ace, but the Broncos reeled off four straight to force a Missouri State timeout trailing four. When play resumed, the Bears took charge and tied the match at two sets each with a 25-18 win.
The Bears took charge early in set five, forcing a Bronco timeout with the Bears leading 11-8. With Missouri State leading, two straight Bronco scores prompted a Bear timeout. The Bears got to match point at 14-11, but the Broncos scored and the Bears took their second timeout. One more Bronco score narrowed the lead to 14-13, but a Bear kill sealed the match.
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Post by skrapheap on Aug 29, 2015 12:11:36 GMT -6
Match four had Milwaukee facing the Furman Paladins.
The Panther starting lineup was the same as in the first match: Sammi Herron, Kayla Price, Mykie Olson, Kaisa Mattson, Maddie Schmitz, Maddie Williams, and Myanna Ruiz at libero.
Play in set one started evenly in set one, with the teams exchanging leads. The Panthers called a timeout after Furman pulled into a 9-8 lead. The Panthers pulled into a tie on a kill and a block by Mattson, only to see the Paladins retake a two point lead. Panther errors kept hurting their attempts to retake the lead. The second Panthers timeout came with Furman up 17-14. The Paladins continued to roll, expanding the lead to 23-15; they had eight set points at 24-16. The Panthers scored two points, but lost the set on a service error.
In set two, the Panthers expanded a 4-2 lead to 7-2 on the service of Ruiz. Her first two deliveries were mishandled, leading to easy kills for Mattson and Herron on overpasses, followed by an ace. A Furman timeout ensued, and the Paladins tightened up the score, prompting a Panther timeout when they took a 13-12 lead. Back and forth play continued and the Panthers again took a timeout with the Paladins leading 19-18. After successive Panther errors opened the lead to three, the Panthers scored two and forced a Paladin timeout. From there, the Panthers pulled back into the lead, and won the set 25-23. Maggie Dunbar had seven kills at the break, followed by Mattson with six and Williams with five.
Set three started with wild swings: the Paladins scored the first four points, the Panthers countered to take a 6-5 lead, and Furman pushed back unro a four point lead forcing a Panther timeout. Back and forth play continued and the Panthers took their second timeout trailing 21-17. The Paladins scored the next four points to take the set 25-17, and a 2-1 lead in sets.
The Panthers took a 9-5,lead to open set four, relying on Dunbar's left arm. Dunbar had three of her 17 kills leading to a Furman timeout. The Panthers expanded the lead to 15-7 and then 16-8. The Paladins took their second timeout down 17-9. Olson served the next four points out of the timeout, the first three on aces. The Panthers had 13 set points on the Paladins, and finished the set on a Furnan hitting error, forcing a fifth set. Dunbar finished the set with 20 kills, followed by Williams with 10.
The Panthers continued to play well, riding three Dunbar kills to an 8-4 lead at the change of sides, and then consecutive kills by Jess Kalous to a 10-5 lead, forcing the Paladins to call timeout. Furman scored two points out of the tumeout, and Coach Johnson called a Panther timeout. A Dunbar kill pushed the lead back to 12-8 and the Paladins called time again. The Panthers's second timeout came with them leading 13-10. Dunbar's 25th kill gave the Panthers four match points, but Furman still had some fight left, scoring two points before a net serve gave the set and match to the Panthers. Williams was the only other Panther in double figures in kills with 12.
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Post by skrapheap on Aug 29, 2015 16:49:58 GMT -6
The fifth match of the tournament featured Westen Michigan and Furman, both 0-2 in the tournament.
Set one started with a big swing in momentum. The Paladins scored eight of the first ten points of the set, forcing a Bronco timeout. Out of the timeout, Western Michigan scored eight of the next ten points to tie the score, sandwiched around a Paladin timeout.The teams traded points and leads until a Paladin run put them into a 21-18 lead, and the Broncos called their second timeout. Furman reached set point at 24-22 and closed the set with an easy kill off a Bronco overpass.
In set two, the Broncos were first to put together a run, building a 13-10 lead. Following a Furman timeout, the Broncos built the kead to five, and then to seven on an ace at 21-14. The lead grew to eight at 24-16, giving the Broncos eight set points, when Furman again called timeout. The Paladins managed only one point before a Bronco kill finished the set to tie the match.
Set three was very even from the start, with the Broncos taking an early two point lead, the. the Paladins building a four point lead into a Bronco timeout. The Paladins extended their lead to 21-14, when the Broncos started a run if their own, forcing a Paladin timeout when the lead had narrowed to 21-19. When play resumed, the Paladins scored four of the final points in the set to win 25-20 and go up two sets to one.
The Paladins had the better start to set four, building a 10-5 lead before the Broncos called timeout. The Broncos were able to get the lead to three twice and two once, but the Paladins had an answer each time. The second Bronco timeout came with them down five. The Broncos again reduced the lead to 21-19, forcing a Furman timeout. the Paladins rebuilt the lead and finished the set and the match, 25-21.
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Post by skrapheap on Aug 29, 2015 18:59:17 GMT -6
The Panthers faced the Missouri State Bears in the final match of the tournament, both teams having won their previous matches.
UWM starters: HERRON, Sammi PRICE, Kayla, KALOUS, Jess, OLSEN, Mykie, DUNBAR, Maggie, WILLIAMS, Maddie,and RUIZ, Myanna at libero.
The Panthers got out to a 6-2 lead, prompting a Bear timeout. The Panthers maintained a four point lead to 14-10, only to see Missouri State pull into a to a tie at 15, then take a lead, when the Panthers called timeout. After the Panthers tied the score at 16, three Bears scores prompted the second Panther timeout. The Bears maintained a lead to four set points, and consecutive points by the Panthers caused the second Bear timeout. The Panthers narrowed the lead to one, but the Bears got the one point they needed to take the set 25-23. Herron and Dunbar lead the Panthers with four kills each.
The Bears started set two where they left off, getting out to a 5-1 lead and forcing the first Panther timeout. The Panthers reduced the lead to 6-3, but the Bears countered with two quick points. Four straight PNther points caused a Bear timeout with their lead down to 8-7. The Panthers scored five more points to tkar a 12-8 lead, The Bears scored four straight to tie the score. Back and forth play continued until the Bears opened another lead at 16-14, and the Panthers took their second timeout.The Panthers could get no traction, and the Bears finished the set 25-18.
The third set was controlled beginning to end by the Bears. The Panthers managed to close an early Bear lead, but never gathered enough momentum to get past the Bears, losing 25-23 and finishing in second place in the tournament.
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Post by Pounce Needs Pals on Aug 31, 2015 12:53:12 GMT -6
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Post by PantherU on Aug 31, 2015 15:49:24 GMT -6
Always a solid student crowd on move-in weekend, whether it's volleyball or soccer. They can't wait to be college students.
We've done a piss-poor job of grabbing hold of that excitement and carrying it over to basketball season. Normally this would be held by football, but I'm not a billionaire yet so we can't get scholarship football.
I honestly believe football should be a part of our plans, but only in one of two cost-effective ways. One way is to keep the current club football program, elevate them to "Varsity Club" status, give them space on the athletics website and assign them an intern from SID to "cover" the team. Danny Zielinski would be perfect for it. Allow them to use university marks for their unis (although I'd prefer to keep Illwauk's Panther M) and give them some space to market their team's games.
The other option is to fund the team as a Division I Pioneer League team. That conference doesn't allow scholarships, and plays its own bowl separate from the rest of I-AA at the end of the year. They technically get a bid to the NCAA Tournament, but they always abstain from the tournament. You could resume the rivalry with Butler while also playing relatively close conference games against rivals Valpo, Drake, Dayton and Morehead State. Other teams are Jacksonville, Campbell, Stetson, San Diego, Marist and Davidson. It's a fun league and while no one would confuse the team with the Badgers, they are a legitimate NCAA Division I football program. The operating expenses for all these teams are under $1 million per year and since there's no scholarships, you can count those 85 players' tuition as straight-up profit for having the team (not to mention those students you get to come to be in the marching band) since the university wouldn't otherwise have these students (assuming they'd go to D-II, D-III, or other Pioneer League schools that have the sport).
That's about $800k per year alone from tuition and fees. To reach $1 million in income, say you'd need 200,000 bucks to come out of ticket sales alone. At eight games a year, you'd need to get 2,500 paying fans per game at $10 a pop. Does anyone think even a non-scholarship football team couldn't do that? Valpo does that and there's something like 400 people in their metro area. The team's already profitable and you haven't even figured in concessions sales or corporate sponsorships or added donations to the school (there would be plenty).
That $800k per year number from tuition is counting it as if you will only take in athletes from Wisconsin. Valparaiso had 70 players on its team last year come from out-of-state. Since Valpo is in a state with plenty of D-I teams, let's say Milwaukee gets 35 of its 85 players from Wisconsin (roughly the same as UW). Using the Fall 2015 tuition and fees schedule, a Milwaukee team with 35 of 85 players in-state would raise $330,019.20 from the in-state players and a whopping $980,148 from the out-of-state players for a grand total of $1,310,167.20 just from tuition alone. We're not even talking room and board, which will be a big help considering UWM is still considering adding to its on-campus housing.
Is there any wonder why schools with multiples of our tuition play non-scholarship football? At Valpo, where tuition alone is 35k per year, they're getting nearly $3 million per year from tuition alone. That team is profitable before they snap the ball. Even we would be close to that immediately.
More than anything, a Pioneer League Panthers team would cost work hours for employees. Where they'd play would be something to work on too, but for the time being Shorewood HS would be fine. Creating a true stadium out of Engelmann would create a unique college football experience while creating revenue for tailgaters in the Engelmann lot (Premium, $25 per vehicle), Cunningham lot (Gold, $15) and Sciences lot (Black, $10).
I realize this is a volleyball thread. I love volleyball, and I'll be tailgating on Thursday at the Milwaukee Cup match. But do we really believe that those sports alone can keep student fever up all the way through until basketball season? What about the people who have been crying for football forever? I still get people asking me about a potential team.
We will never play scholarship D-I football (nor should we). But Pioneer League football is attainable and would give us something the school across town doesn't have at a fraction of the price. Valpo turns a profit and they're putrid.
Let's do it. I mean, why the hell not? You can turn a profit tripping over yourself.
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