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Post by skrapheap on Apr 13, 2018 15:33:19 GMT -6
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Post by ghostofdylan on Apr 14, 2018 14:14:47 GMT -6
Any changes to the staff?
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Post by skrapheap on Apr 17, 2018 10:52:24 GMT -6
Any changes to the staff? Doesn't look that way. Susie Johnson and Lindsey Vanden Berg are fixtures as the head coach and associate head coach. There has been some turnover in the second assistant in recent years, but I believe Eli Sharping has now been in place a couple of years.
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Post by skrapheap on Apr 27, 2018 16:53:14 GMT -6
The 2018 schedule is set: mkepanthers.com/news/2018/4/25/womens-volleyball-milwaukee-volleyball-releases-2018-schedule.aspxHighlights include the return of Panther standout Leanne Felsing, now Leanne Williamson, as head coach at South Dakota, in a match as part of the Panther Invitational tourney. The NCAA has now approved the addition of an exhibition match in D1 Women’s Volleyball. Rather than scheduling a match against a D2 or D3 opponent, as happens in basketball, Milwaukee opted to travel to Valparaiso to play their former HL rival.
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Post by Pounce Needs Pals on Apr 27, 2018 23:15:10 GMT -6
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Post by skrapheap on Aug 9, 2018 9:07:43 GMT -6
i'm looking forward to the New Hampshire game in the Panther Invitational a week from tomorrow. After this weekend, the team is on the road until the beginning of league play, the last weekend in September.
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Post by skrapheap on Aug 28, 2018 16:22:20 GMT -6
Finally remembered to check the HL site for the preseason poll.
No surprises there. Cleveland State is predicted to finish first, with Oakland right behind them. The Panthers are predicted to finish seventh. This is another young team, so fans will have to hope for development over the course of the season, enough that the team can finish league play in the top six and get a tournament birth.
The Panthers had a rough time in in their tournament. They won the first set in the first match, then lost seven consecutive sets before winning again, then lost two more sets, to finish the tournament at 0-3. There were some good moments, but there were more times when they were outplayed.
It's not entirely a surprise. With so many new players, the non-league season is about seeing which combinations of players work together best, trying to build toward a regular starting lineup and a rotation. The other teams invited to the tournament are pretty solid. Two of them are expected to finish at or near the top of their conferences. The third team is more like the Panthers, in a rebuilding mode.
The next match is tonight, against a rebuilding Northern Illinois team.
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Post by skrapheap on Sept 15, 2018 0:11:54 GMT -6
Heading into play today, the Panthers were 0-10 on nonleague play. They had lost a couple of five-set matches.
Their first match in their tournament at Bradley University was fairly early, and they came out and beat Nebraska Omaha in the opening set. Omaha won the next three sets to take the match.
The second match of the day ended with a sweep of Eastern Illinois, Milwaukee’s first set win of the season.
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Post by skrapheap on Sept 21, 2018 18:42:58 GMT -6
After taking their lumps in a 1-12 non-league season, Milwaukee traveled to Dayton to face Wright State to start the league season, winning 3-1 (25-23, 25-23, 23-25, 25-20).
The Panthers are a young team, led tonight by their more experienced players. They started these players: Loiuise Kiekhofer, Carmen Heilemann, Kleja Cernuamskaite, Rylie Vaughn, Kylie Wilks, Shanon Volpis, and Jess Grabowski at libero. Kiekhofer and Wilks are Juniors, Volpis is a Senior (transfer). Heilemann is a Sophomore. The remaining starters are freshman. Kiekhofer led all scorers far and away with 27 kills (a career high), followed by Wilks with 14 and Heilemann with 11. Vaughn started at setter instead of Jenn Dore, but Dore played in all four sets; Vaughn had 35 assists and Dore had 23. Wilks and Grabowski led the Panthers with 18 digs each, followed by Vaughn with 11 and Volpis with 8. Volpis had a big night at the net, assisting on all eight of the Panthers blocks on the evening. Freshman Abby Koenen had 8 kills, two digs and two block assists.
Play through the first two sets was fairly close and even, with the Panthers finishing each set just ahead of the Raiders.
Set three looked at first like the first two sets, but it was the Raiders pulling away late to prevent the sweep.
Set four started and ended with the Panthers in control, but the Raiders went on a four point run to close a 22-14 score to 22-18, before the Panthers reasserted control, with Kiekhofer scoring the Panthers's final three points.
Wright State was predicted to finish one spot behind the Panthers in the pre-season poll, but it wss nice to see that the team had absorbed some lessons along with the non-league losses.
Tha Panthers finish a long stretch on the road with a match at Northern Kentucky tomorrow afternoon. The Norse were picked to finish sixth, one spot ahead of the Panthers in the preseaon poll. Nothern Kentucky beat Green Bay tonight, also three sets to one. The Norse have now won a league-best seven consecutive matches, so the Panthers will face a serious challenge.
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Post by skrapheap on Sept 22, 2018 15:37:31 GMT -6
The best thing that can be said about today's match with Northern Kentucky is that the long road swing is over. The Norse swept the Panthers, 25-17, 25-23, 26-24.
The Norse, who entered the match having won seven consecutive matches were the agressor in the first set, running out to a quick lead and gradually extending it. The Panthers finally started to play better toward the end of the set, but the Norse won by eight. Carmen Heilemann provided most of the Panther offense in the set.
Set two was much more evenly played, with the Panthers taking short-lived leads, but in the end, the Norse boke a late tie and won. Louise Kiekhofer and Kyle Wilks were leading contributors.
In set three, Milwaukee finally started putting offense and defense together, getting out to an early lead, and retaking it after giving up the lead. Milwaukee had two set points on NKUY, and then collapsed, as the Norse scored the last four points of the match to complete the sweep. WIlks and Jenna Miller led the way in the set.
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Post by skrapheap on Sept 28, 2018 18:32:09 GMT -6
The Panthers first home match in a month, an their home opener for league play, was against UIC. The Flames swept the match. The Panthers gave away a lead in the first set to a Flames rally, and UIC never trailed after the early stages of the second or third sets.
The excuse given for the Panthers play this season is the same excuse given the last several seasons: youth. Somehow the team hasn't managed to mature enough over the course of a season to win more than a few matches. The problem has remained the same from season to season: a general inability to sting points together.
It appears the rest of the league has pretty much passed the Panther program by.
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Post by skrapheap on Oct 4, 2018 20:18:31 GMT -6
After losing two home matches, Milwaukee (1-3 in league play)traveled to Indianapolis to take on IUPUI (2-2).
The Panthers played much better and swept the Jaguars: 30-28, 25-22 and 25-15.
Milwaukee jumped out to an early lead in set one, only to see the Jaguars surge into the lead. To their credit, the Panthers kept the Jaguars close, never letting the lead go beyond three points. Even more importantly, they closed on IUPUI, tying the score at 18-all. Back-and forth play continued, but the Panthers scored the consecutive points to get to 24-22. The Jaguars kept fighting, however, and it took four more chances at set point to win the set. Scoring was evenly distributed among five Panthers: Kylie Wilks and Carmen Heilemann had three kills, and Abby Koenen, Kleja Cerniauskaite, and Louise Kiekhofer had two. The Jaguars made a number of hitting and service errors, but still kept the score close.
Set two saw the Panthers play a little better, maintaining a lead through most of the set, but not putting the Jaguars away. Milwaukee had four set points at 24-20. IUPUI was able to score twice before Heilemann clinched the win. Her winner was her third kill of the set. Kiekhofer really heated up in set two, leading the way with six, including three consecutively, to give her nine for the match. Koenen and Jenna Miller added two kills apiece.
The Panthers played one of their better sets in the third, building a six-point lead at 20-14, and then scoring the last five points of the match to finish the sweep. Kiekhofer added three kills to finish in double figures with 12, followed by Wilks, whose six kills in set three gave her a total of 11 for the match. Koenen and Heilemann finished with eight kills for the match, and Miller had six.
The Panthers’s next five matches are at home, to complete the first half of the league schedule and begin the second half. The next match is Sunday and the opponent will be perennial league powerhouse Cleveland State.
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Post by skrapheap on Oct 12, 2018 19:07:15 GMT -6
After losing a four-set match to Cleveland State, the Panthers(2-4 in league play) continued their home stand with Youngstown State (1-5). Milwaukee has struggled with the top teams in the league, but has done well with the weaker teams, winning tonight in three sets
In the first set, the Panthers went on a series of runs and won easily 25-15. Only a late YSU run prevented the margin of victory from being larger than 10 points. The second set was similar to the first, with the Panthers winning 25-13. Makenzie Mroczenski led the way with five kills, followed by Kylie Wilks with four and Shanon Volpis with three.
The Penguins made an adjustment going into set three, switching liberos, and played much better. They played the Panthers evenly to a 19-all tie, taking advantage of a play-over to cut a 19-17 Panther lead. The Panthers regained momentum from there, scoring four consecutive points to open a 23-19 lead. They had four match points at 24-20, and finished the set 25-21 to earn the sweep. This was the sixth consecutive sweep loss the Penguins have had in league play.
Carmen Heilemann continued her recent good play, leading the Panthers with 11 kills for the match, followed by Mroczenski with nine, Abby Koenen with seven, Shari Volpis with six, Wilks with five and Shanon Volpis with four kills. Shanon Volpis had three of her four kills in the first set. The Panther block was much improved tonight: the Panthers outblocked the Penguins seven to five. Shanon Volpis, Mroczenski and Koenen each had three block assists to lead the way.
Milwaukee entered the evening in a three-way tie for fifth place with IUPUI and Oakland. IUPUI lost to Wright State, and Oakland lost three sets to one versus UIC in Chicago. As a result the Panthers would finish the evening alone in fifth place, with Oakland visiting tomorrow.
Some observations: the Panthers seem to be building some momentum of late. They are still struggling with consistantcy, but they are winning the matches one would expect them to win. The league has not been quite playing out as the pre-season poll predicted. As expected, Cleveland State is in first place, but now is tied with Green Bay, who came all the way back from two sets down to beat the Vikings in five sets. (I bet the broadcast team for the Phoenix was insufferable in the post-game.) The Phoenix were picked to finish more toward the middle of the pack. Oakland was predicted to finish much higher than their current placing.
The Panthers were not picked to finish in the top six, and therefore to miss the cut for the league tournament. If they can continue to improve, they could make some waves in the league. The match with Oakland tomorrow afternoon will provide some real insight about the Panthers's trajectory in the league.
As much as the youth of the Panther roster has been highlighted, most of the Panthers's offensive output has come from the more experienced players. Of the top nine players for kills, only two are freshmen, and four are freshmen or sophomores. Abby Koenen and Cleja Cerniauskaite are contributors, and can, one hopes, be counted on for more production as the season goes on. The Volpis sisters are both experienced players, though new to the Milwaukee program.
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Post by skrapheap on Oct 13, 2018 18:24:28 GMT -6
Last night I wrote that today’s match with Oakland would say alot about where the Panthers are going.
The Panthers showed that their development is continuing positively. After two fairly easy wins to start the match, the Panthers faced a resurgent Golden Grizzlies squad, who won the third set 25-23 and cruised to a fourth set win. The Panthers regrouped in the fifth set, and outlasted the Grizzlies 21-19 to win the match.
Kylie Wilks led the way with a double double of 14 kills and 11 digs. Wilks had four blocks, second to Shanon Volpis’s six. Volpis had 13 kills and hit a team-leading .458 for the match. Carmen Heilemann had 12, and Shari Volpis had 11. Milwaukee had 14 blocks to 11 for Oakland. Setters Jenn Dore (27, to go with 11digs for a double double) and Rylie Vaughn (26) accounted for 53 of the Panthers’s 60 assists.
The win evens the Panthers’s league record at 4-4, putting them alone in fifth place. Ahead of Milwaukee are Northern Kentucky (5-2 with a match tomorrow against Wright State in Dayton tomorrow), Cleveland State, who lost in five sets to UIC today, resulting in a tie for second place between the two schools. In first place is Green Bay, who swept Youngstown State this afternoon.
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Post by skrapheap on Oct 19, 2018 20:59:59 GMT -6
After pulling off another five set win, this time over Northern Kentucky, after losing the first two sets, Milwaukee continued its upward trajectory in league play. The final scores for the match were 20-25, 26-28, 25-21, 25-23, 15-10. The match win pulls the Panthers into a tie with NKU for fourth place in the league at 5-4.
The Panthers agin got balanced scoring, although Makenzie Mroczenski finished well ahead of her teammates with 20 kills for the match. She was followed by Kyle Wilks with 14 and Abby Koenen with 11; three more players just missed hitting double figures for the match: Carmen Heilemann and Shari Volpis finished with nine kills each, and Louise Kiekhofer had eight. Koenen lead the way in hitting percentage at .450, followed by Volpis at .421, Koenen at .381 and Mroczenski at .340. The team hit .263 for the match, and cooled down NKU over the course of the five sets to an overall hitting percentage of .229; the Norse hit -.086 in the deciding set.
NKU got out to early leads in the first two sets, taking firm control in set one and winning by five. The Panthers fought their way back from early four to five points deficits to close the score in the second set and even scored consecutive set points to tie the score at 24. NKU prevailed eventually, but it was clear the Panthers would keep fighting hard.
After the intermission. the Panthers came out determined, matching the Norse point for point early, and then getting some mid-set scoring runs and opening a five point lead, which they pushed to a six point lead on multiple occasions. They had the wherewithal to withstand a late Norse run and win by four. Set four is where the Panthers really showed how far they have progressed this season. They played the Norse evenly at first, and when NKU opened a 15-13 lead, Milwaukee countered with a three-point run on kills by Kiekhofer and Heilemann, and an NKU error, for a 16-15 lead. The Norse tied the score at 16-all, but the Panthers put together a four point run on kills by Heliemann and Mroczenski plus a couple of NKU errors to take a 21-17 lead. NKU scored six more points, but the Panther lead was too much to overcome, and the Panthers finished the set on a block by Koenen and Volpis.
The fifth set started out evenly, and the Panthers suffered a setback when Mroczenski hurt a knee landing and had to be helped off the court. The Panthers regrouped slowly, as the Norse led 8-6 at the change of sides. The Panthers scored two straight to the score. It looked like they had got three straight, but NKU won a challenge to take a 9-8 lead. The Panthers then scored four straight, taking advantage of Norse hitting errors and a Helemann kill to open a 12-9 lead, and then scored three of the next four points to finish the match.
The Panthers finish their five match homestand tomorrow afternoon with a match against Wright State.
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