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Post by skrapheap on Sept 22, 2023 18:58:30 GMT -6
The Panthers made short work of the IUPUI Jaguars, sweeping them 25-18, 25-17, 25-11, tonight. Milwaukee hit .237 for the evening, and held IUPUI to -.020. Natalie Schmitz had eight kills to lead the Panthers, and two of the team's 13 blocks. Ari Miller had six kills and hit .545 to lead the Panthers, along with a service ace, two digs, and eight blocks.
Elsewhere in the league, Robert Morris ( picked to finish last) traveled to Cleveland and beat the Vikings (picked 5th) three sets to one. Purdue Fort Wayne (tomorrow's opponent for Milwaukee) is up two sets to one on Green Bay (picked 2nd) and is up 19-16 in set four. Update: Green Bay came back to win set four and force a fifth set, which the Phoenix won.
The big match of the weekend will be Northern Kentucky traveling to play defending champ Wright State tomorrow afternoon.
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Post by skrapheap on Sept 23, 2023 16:41:44 GMT -6
The Panthers went to 2-0 in league play with a 25-18, 25-9, 25-19 sweep of Purdue Fort Wayne this afternoon. Milwaukee hit .394 for the match and held PFW to a .104 percentage.
Ari Miller led all scorers with 13 kills (hitting .650 for the match), with five blocks and three digs. Rachel Scott contributed nine kills (hitting .533). Natalie Schmitz had eight kills, Madi Malone had seven kills (to go with five digs, two assists and an ace) and Czhen Beneby had six kills and three blocks. Six Panthers had at least one service ace.
In league play today, host Wright State beat Northern Kentucky 3-1, Cleveland State beat visiting Youngstown State 3-1, Oakland swept Robert Morris at home, and IUPUI, after losing the first two sets to host Green Bay, outlasted the Phoenix in set three 29-27 and forced a fifth set with a 25-16 set four win. As they did last night, Green Bay rights the ship in set five, and hangs on to win 15-13.
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Post by skrapheap on Sept 25, 2023 5:39:13 GMT -6
Milwaukee, Green Bay and Wright State are at 2-0 and on top of the standings.
Four matches scheduled for Tuesday night. The most interesting, since the Panthers are not playing, will probably be Wright State at Youngstown State. The Raiders remain the top team in the league, but if YSU can pull off the upset, it would be more likely at home.
Purdue Fort Wayne at Cleveland State could be competitive. The Mastodons took Green Bay to five sets, and the Vikings have already dropped a home match to Robert Morris. RMU and IUPUI were picked to finish tied for last in the preseason poll.
Cleveland State has the toughest test in the league next weekend: road matches with Northern Kentucky and Wright State.
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Post by skrapheap on Sept 25, 2023 16:29:04 GMT -6
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Post by skrapheap on Sept 26, 2023 19:54:49 GMT -6
The teams higher in the standings all won tonight: Wright State (now 3-0), Cleveland State and Oakland (both now 3-1), and Northern Kentucky (2-1).
Milwaukee has matches on Friday at Robert Morris and Saturday at Youngstown State, both teams currently at 1-3. The following Tuesday the Panthers host Green Bay, who is Milwaukee's travel partner.
The scheduling for league play is somewhat odd. There are ten teams in the league, so I can see the difficulty in scheduling all the teams to be playing on the same night. It still seems odd for some league teams to have played four league matches before others have played three. Those teams will have played five or six by the time the others have played four.
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Post by joetix on Sept 27, 2023 10:43:32 GMT -6
For those who don't typically go to volleyball, a couple of dates to circle on the calendar: - Tuesday, 10/3 at 6 pm vs Green Bay - Friday, 10/27 at 6 pm vs Youngstown State More to come on 10/27 later, but 10/3 is a big one. In-state rival, two of the top three teams in the league...Basketball season ticket members get free admission or if you don't have season tickets but you've been to a game already, you get 40% off tickets. am.ticketmaster.com/uwm/VBMatches or call me at 414-309-0766!
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Post by skrapheap on Sept 28, 2023 22:04:52 GMT -6
Milwaukee has a match on Friday (5:00 PM Milwaukee time) at Robert Morris and a Saturday match against Youngstown State (Noon Milwaukee time). The Colonials and the Penguins are both 1-3, a match ahead of last place teams IUPUI and Purdue Fort Wayne. RMU and YSU have road wins against Cleveland State and Oakland in league play so far, and have both lost to Wright State and Northern Kentucky.
The Panthers have heated up considerably, putting together win streaks of five and four matches on their way to a 10-6 record, which has already tied last season's win total. Milwaukee should be favored to extend their four match streak to six this weekend. They have not played dominating volleyball consistently, but they have been able to hang in and win sets and matches late, so they have won the league matches they were expected to win.
Next week the level of difficulty will increase markedly, as Milwaukee hosts the teams predicted to finish above them: Green Bay on Tuesday night, Northern Kentucky on Friday night, and Wright State on Saturday. Last weekend the Panthers swept IUPUI and Purdue Fort Wayne, both of whom took Green Bay to five sets that weekend.
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Post by skrapheap on Sept 29, 2023 18:38:33 GMT -6
One might have expected the teams higher in the standings would all win tonight, and winning by sweeps was likely. With the exception of Green Bay's road victory over Youngstown State, that was not the case.
Cleveland State took a set from Northern Kentucky on NKU's home court and nearly won a second, with NKU hanging on to win 26-24. The Norse took charge in set four and got the match win.
Robert Morris had never won so much as a set against Milwaukee, but they held on to win the second set 27-25. After that, the Panthers buckled down and won sets three and four to take the match, 25-13 and 25-17. One of the great strengths of this year's Panther squad is versatility. Ari Miller is the undisputed leader both offensively and defensively, but the Panthers do not need her to lead them in every scoring category to win. There are players like Madi Malone, who led everybody with 19 kills on a .318 hitting percentage, along with eight digs and a block assist. Lakyn Graves had ten kills to go with six blocks and hit .316. Miller's production was not as high as usual, but she hit .320 and had ten kills, and seven blocks.
The shocker of the evening was Oakland going into Wright State's gym and taking the first two sets, and getting out to and maintaining a significant lead in set four. The Raiders fought hard, but Oakland kept them from putting together a run. The Raiders had to take a time out down 23-15. Oakland had nine match points on Wright State, and gave up only one, to take the match.
As a result of the evening's matches, Milwaukee and Green Bay are the only unbeaten teams and tied for first place at 3-0. Oakland is now 4-1, followed by Wright State and Northern Kentucky at 3-1. Oakland's reward for beating the top team in the league the past few years is to play NKU on the road tomorrow. Wright State will try to bounce back at home against Cleveland State.
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Post by skrapheap on Sept 30, 2023 17:24:48 GMT -6
Saturday's league matches were a further demonstration that the league as a whole has gotten stronger. There are teams at the bottom of the standings that are not nearly as good as those at the top of the standings, but teams are bunching toward the top of the standings. It was a Saturday on which all ten teams were in action.
League leaders Green Bay and Milwaukee both won their road matches this afternoon. Milwaukee took the first two sets in Youngstown against the Penguins, lost a close third set, and then won the fourth set to get the match win. Green Bay played Robert Morris on the road and also took four sets to secure victory. The Panthers and the Phoenix remain undefeated in league play at 4-0 and in first place, ahead of a Tuesday night match in Milwaukee. Green Bay represents the biggest challenge for Milwaukee thus far in league play, until the Panthers host Northern Kentucky on Friday night and Wright State on Saturday afternoon, to close a stretch of eleven matches, eight of which were played at home.
Milwaukee again won with balanced scoring and a decided advantage from the service line. Madi Malone again lead the Panthers with 12 kills, to go with 12 digs (yet another double-double, though the first in a few matches) and a service ace. Lakyn Graves had 11 kills (her second consecutive match reaching double digits in that category) and five blocks. Natalie Schmitz and Czhen Beneby contributed nine kills each, with Beneby adding three blocks. Ari Miller had what is considered an off game for her, with eight kills and a hitting percentage of only .167. Miller did contribute three aces along with two blocks. The Panthers had nine aces in total against only two errors. The Penguins had four aces but eight service errors. That was just enough to win the match considering that YSU had slight advantages in total blocks (8-7) and and hit above .200 for the match.
Northern Kentucky hosted Oakland and swept them. Wright State had their hands full with Cleveland State. The Vikings took the match to five sets and had opportunities to win the match. After losing a four set match to Oakland last night, the Raiders put together a late run to win set five 15-13 and split the weekend's matches. The wins today put the Raiders and the Norse in a tie second place with 4-1 records. Oakland is next with a 4-2 record, followed by Cleveland State at 3-3.
The final match of the day featured the last place teams, IUPUI at Purdue Fort Wayne. As neither team had won a league match this far, the result will be that there would be only one winless team in the league at the end of the match. Tuesday's match will reduce the undefeated teams in the league to one, as well.
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Post by skrapheap on Oct 2, 2023 17:19:23 GMT -6
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Post by skrapheap on Oct 6, 2023 19:54:12 GMT -6
Going into play this week, it was obvious this was going to be a very important three game stretch for Milwaukee. The Panthers, picked to finish fourth, were scheduled to meet the three teams picked to finish ahead of them. Milwaukee was undefeated and tied with Green Bay going into Tuesday night, and Northern Kentucky and Wright State were just behind the two teams.
On Tuesday night, the match played out according to the pre-season poll. The Panthers took set one and then were outplayed by the Phoenix for three sets. Milwaukee is not one of the top serving teams in the league, but they have played well enough to win in part because they minimized serving errors and managed enough aces to be scoring points at the service line on balance. Green Bay is one of the top serving teams and had eight aces to three errors; Milwaukee had seven aces but six errors, giving Green Bay a four point advantage at the service line. That on top of the Panthers giving the Phoenix nine points overall on hitting errors. Blocks were even so most of the Panther errors were on them. The differential meant the Panthers were outhit .271 to .186. Ari Miller and Natalie Schmitz had 11 kills and Madi Malone had 10 on the match.
Tonight's match with Northern Kentucky looked like a continuation of Tuesday night in the first set. The Panthers had a 22-17 lead and the Norse scored eight of the last nine points to win 25-23. This despite the Panthers hitting a robust .367 for the set. The Panthers regrouped quickly to win in four sets, 23-25, 25-16, 25-20, and 26-24. Malone continued her hot streak by hitting .390 and getting 17 kills. Miller had 13 kills and hit .458 for the match and added seven blocks. Schmitz added 11 kills and three blocks, and Czhen Beneby had one of her best matches of the season, scoring 10 kills on a .300 hitting percentage and adding five blocks. Three Panthers registered double-doubles: Malone added 13 digs to go with her kill totals, and setters Kaley Blake (23 assists, 16 digs) and Josie Johnson (22 assists, 12 digs) both came up big for Milwaukee. The only negative for the match was Rachel Scott suffering a shoulder injury in set one. She had been playing more and more and hitting and blocking better and better, so her loss was a blow.
The other big match of the night was Wright State at Green Bay. The Raiders overcame a 2-1 deficit by winning the fourth set and then surging late in set five to win the match, snapping Green Bay's five match league winning streak.
As a result, Milwaukee, Green Bay and Wright State are in a three way tie for the league lead at 5-1. Oakland is just behind at 5-2, followed by NKU at 4-2.
Tomorrow afternoon, Wright State comes to the Klotsche, and NKU plays at Green Bay, so the top spots in the league could switch yet again.
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Post by skrapheap on Oct 7, 2023 18:33:43 GMT -6
At the end of a challenging week, Milwaukee was still in first place, and still tied with a Green Bay. The Panthers won a four set match with Wright State, led by the play of Madi Malone, who led all scorers with 21 killls, and had 11 digs for a second consecutive double-double. Malone also led the team in hitting percentage at .388 and had two aces and two blocks. Ari Miller hit .375 with 12 kills, three blocks and two aces. The Panthers had a total of 11 blocks to five for the Raiders. Lakyn Graves had seven blocks and Bri Geurts had four, as she again filled in for the injured Rachel Scott.
The Panthers hit .272 for the match and held a potent Raider offense to .186.
Elsewhere in league play, Green Bay again had to play a five set match, today against Northern Kentucky. The Phoenix surged late, pulling out the fourth set, and in the fifth set the Norse ran out of gas.
Next up for the Panthers is a four match road swing, starting with Oakland and Cleveland State. The Golden Grizzlies are off to a strong start in league play, just behind Milwaukee and Green Bay at 5-2, and they beat Wright State in Dayton.
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Post by skrapheap on Oct 9, 2023 13:07:40 GMT -6
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Post by skrapheap on Oct 11, 2023 8:55:07 GMT -6
Having spent last week facing the teams that were in the top four of the league standings with them, the Panthers now start a stretch of six matches against the rest of the league, largely on the road. The stretch begins with the teams currently third and sixth in the standings, and the teams I believe will present the greatest challenge to the first place Panthers, Oakland and Cleveland State.
On Friday, the Panthers will face the Golden Grizzlies, who with Wright State are one match out of first place. Oakland beat Wright State in Dayton in their first meeting, so they currently hold a tie-breaker over the Raiders. Oakland's two league losses are at home to Youngstown State (one of the Penguins' two league wins) and on the road to Northern Kentucky. The Panthers are at or near the top of the league in most offensive categories and in several defensive categories. Oakland presents a similar profile, though the Grizzlies are a little stronger on defense than offense. The teams match up pretty well, as both are getting balanced scoring and their best players are all high in the individual standings. I expect a closely played match that goes at least four sets. On Saturday, Green Bay comes in to play Oakland, and that should be a match worth watching as well.
On Saturday the Panthers play Cleveland State in Cleveland. The Vikings are 3-4 in league play, and in addition to consecutive losses to teams Northern Kentucky, Wright State and Oakland, they lost to Robert Morris at home, which represents the Colonials' only league win. The Vikings host Green Bay on Friday, so unless they pull off an upset, they will take a four match losing streak into play on Saturday. The match will be a challenge for the Panthers because it's difficult to win on the road in the Horizon League. I expect that Coach Johnson will have her team well prepared for both matches.
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Post by skrapheap on Oct 13, 2023 17:51:35 GMT -6
As Socrates often observed, “I know that I know nothing.” After I predicted a close, four or five set match with Oakland, the Panthers played a complete match and swept the Golden Grizzlies, 25-18, 25-12, and 25-9.
Milwaukee dominated in just about every category: hitting (.357 to .021), kills (40 to 23), blocks (eight to two), digs (40 to 28), service aces (four to one). The offense was so dominant that only one Panther got to double figures in kills: Madi Malone with 11. Malone continues on her recent tear, reaching double figures in kills for her sixth consecutive match and for the sixteenth time in twenty-two matches this season.
Ari Miller had eight kills and hit .583 on the match.
The other match to watch tonight was Green Bay at Cleveland State, but it was not broadcast. The Vikings snapped a three match losing streak with a late surge in set four to win the match 3-1.
At the end of tonight's matches, Milwaukee is for the moment alone in first place at 7-1. Wright State and Green Bay are tied for second at 6-2, with the Raiders currently holding the tiebreaker. Oakland and Northern Kentucky are tied for fourth at 5-3. Cleveland State is alone in sixth place at 4-4. None of the remaining teams have more than two victories. Robert Morris won their second league match tonight at home, beating Youngstown State 3-2.
The Panthers next play Cleveland State tomorrow afternoon, which will complete the first half of the league season. I will refrain from predictions, but if the Panthers play the kind of volleyball they played tonight, they will be very hard to beat.
The Oakland vs Green Bay matchup should be worth watching, as both teams seek to bounce back from tough losses. Green Bay took a set from Cleveland State, and when it looked like the Phoenix would force a set five, the Vikings stormed back. The Phoenix had leads of 19-13, 20-15, 21-16, and 22-18 in set four; a Green Bay service error made it 22-19, and the Vikings scored the next six points to win the set and the match.
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