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Post by parkerj on Oct 6, 2021 11:20:09 GMT -6
Milwaukee did not look ready to play at the start of tonight's match with Wright State; the Raiders were. The Panthers, leading the league in many offensive categories, was up against one of the best defenses in the league, and the Raiders' defense was up to the task in sets one and two. The Panthers started to play better in set two, and then won three straight sets to win the match. The Panthers kept set one close to begin with, including a four point run to take an 8-6 lead, and then again a 9-7 lead. The Raiders came up with a four point run of their own, and never trailed the rest of the set. The WSU run started with consecutive blocks. The Raider lead reached three at 13-10, and then the Panthers scored four of the next five points to tie the score at 14-all. The Panthers could never score more than single points for the rest of the set, and Wright State won 25-20. The offensive bright spot for the Panthers in set one was Madi Malone, who had 11 kills. She did not get much help, as no one else on the Panthers had more than two kills. Carmen Heilemann, who had been the high scorer for the Panthers against Northern Kentucky last night, was a frequent victim of the Wright State block, and was hitting a negative percentage because of it. Set two started out much the same as set one, although the Raiders got out to a lead earlier in the set, and built it steadily. The Panthers were briefly able to close on the Raiders, but were not able to take the lead, though they did tie the score at 13-all. The Raiders then scored nine of the next eleven points, and had what appeared to be a commanding 22-15 lead. Rather than fold, however, the Panther then ran off eight consecutive points to take a 23-22 lead. The Panthers had a golden opportunity to win the set, as they got to set point and could have put the ball away on a Raider over-pass. The ball was struck solidly, but landed out of bounds to tie the score at 24-all. The Panthers got to set point a second time, but again failed to put the set away with a hitting error. Wright State took the opportunity handed to them and scored three points to win set two 27-25. Wright State again out to an early lead in set three, scoring seven of the first eleven points until the Panther offense started to get going. The Panthers gradually closed in on the Raiders, exchanging points and leads through the middle part of the set. A three point run turned a 20-19 deficit into a 22-20 lead. After WSU tied the score at 23-all, the Panthers got consecutive kills from Malone and Heilemann (from the back row, no less) to take the set. Malone continued to shine with seven kills in the set. Heilemann, Ari Miller (eight kills) and Abby Koenen (four kills) all got untracked offensively in the set. Having gotten the offense working, the Panthers began set four with more confidence, getting out to a 7-4 lead. Panther errors contributed to a four Raider point run and the Panthers took their first timeout trailing 8-7. Malone's 24th kill (which tied her career high) tied the score at 9-all. The Raiders took a 13-10 lead and the Panthers took their second time-out. More than half the Raiders points in the set to that point were on Panther errors. The lead grew to 17-12 when the Panthers really started to put things together on offense. They outscored the Raiders 13-4 to win the set 25-22. The Raiders took their first time-out when consecutive hitting errors pulled the Panthers closer at 19-17. The Panthers retook the lead at 21-20 on a Raider error at the end of a long rally. The Raiders took their second time-out trailing 23-21. The Panthers took the set on a Malone kill. The Panthers seized control of the fifth early. They took a 5-1 lead, including two service ace, and Wright State took a time-out. Heilemann's serve was particularly effective, gettin an ace and otherwise making it difficult for the Raiders to get organized offensively. The lead grew to 9-3, then 11-4 when WSU took their second time-out. Malone's 29th kill gave the Panthers nine match points, and a Raider hitting error finished the comeback. Malone led all scores with her 29 kills (on a .318 hitting percentage). Miller had 20 kills and hit a team-high .383. Koenen finished with 13 kills, hitting .355, and Heilemann overcame a rough start to finish with 11 kills on an .065 hitting percentage. The Panthers hit .571 in the decisive fifth set. Wright State had 18 blocks to seven for Milwaukee, but the Panther offense overcame that deficit to outhit the Raiders .221 to .217. They outdug the Raiders 96-87 and amassed 72 assists to 52 for the Raiders. The Panther weekend is now over, and it remains to be seen whether a Panther can snag yet another Player of the Week honor. Ari Miller is a contender, again, having 19 kills last night and 20 tonight. Madi Malone had a good weekend too, scoring 40 kills in the two matches on an overall hitting percentage of .299. Malone had yet another double-double with her 14 kills tonight. Rylie Vaughn averaged 54 assists per match and 22 digs per match against the Norse and the Raiders. Wait what the heck? Oh man the stat tracker glitched it said we lost 3-2! Hahaha
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Post by skrapheap on Oct 6, 2021 11:26:00 GMT -6
[Wait what the heck? Oh man the stat tracker glitched it said we lost 3-2! Hahaha That's odd...everywhere else the Panthers won 3-2. And that third set wasn't even close: 15-5 Panthers. When a team has to come back from two sets down, you worry that they won't have the wherewithal to finish the match and win the fifth set. That happened to the Panthers in non-league play, I believe. Instead, the Panthers took the lead early and built it fast, and that was all she wrote.
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Post by skrapheap on Oct 6, 2021 15:55:41 GMT -6
horizonleague.org/news/2021/10/6/womens-volleyball-nike-hlvb-players-of-the-week-oct-6.aspxAs I thought, a Panther did get Player of the Week honors after last weeks play. It was Madi Malone for the second time this season (and for her career) rather than Ari Miller for a fourth time this season. A Panther has now been selected in five of the six weeks that the League has named Players of the Week. In individual statistics so far this year: - Ari Miller (1) and Carmen Helieman (3) are in the top three in hitting percentage.
- Miller (2, just .02 behind the top spot) and Malone (8) are in the top ten in kills/set.
- Riley Vaughn is listed second in the top ten in assists/set. She has more assists/set than the top player, but that player has played in more sets.
- Jess Grabowski is currently fifth in digs/set.
- Miller (2) and Malone (9) are in the top ten for points/set (kills, aces, and blocks).
- The only published statistical category at the HL website that doesn't include a Panther in the top ten is blocks/set.
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Post by skrapheap on Oct 7, 2021 17:13:20 GMT -6
The Panthers started off tonight's match with Oakland fairly well. The lead was exchanged several times in the aarly part of the first set, pulling away late to win 25-21. Milwaukee hit .211 to .057 for Oakland in the set. Ari Miller lead all scorers with eight kills in the set; Madi Malone and Carmen Heilemann had four kills each.
Set two was a more competitive affair. The Panthers were hitting .163 for the set to a 22-20 lead, while the Grizzlies were hitting .167. The Panthers had three set points and gave up the first on a service error. A kill off a block to end a long rally cut the lead to 24-23, but the Panthers got the point to win the set 25-23. Miller had only two kills in the set, as Oakland managed to limit her opportunities. Heilemann had four kills in the set and Malone three to balance out the scoring.
The Panthers started to pull away earlier during the third set, getting out to a 9-4 lead to prompt an Oakland time-out. The lead grew to 21-12 before Oakland rallied to cut the lead to 22-15, and the Panthers took a time-out. From there, the Panthers finished off the set and the match 25-16. Heilemann had 16 kills on the night, Miller 12, and Malone 11, for the Panthers who hit .264 for the match.
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Post by skrapheap on Oct 8, 2021 18:24:43 GMT -6
I was shocked to find, as I started to watch tonight's match with Cleveland State, that the Vikings were no longer undefeated in league play. As the Panthers were sweeping Oakland, Green Bay came back from two sets down to win in five sets at Cleveland. The Phoenix played the Raiders tough, and their two losses were close ones, and when I stopped watching, Cleveland State looked like they were going to get the sweep. Apparently the Phoenix really got going after I stopped watching. I may have to check out the replay.
The Panthers got off to a good start in set one, getting out to leads of 5-1 and 6-2. The Vikings tightened things up, getting to within one on several occasions, but were not able to get to even. Gradually, the Panthers built their lead, going up 15-11 at the media time-out. At that point, the Panthers were hitting .538 to .105 for the Vikings. Milwaukee made three errors coming out of the break, so Coach Johnson called time-out. The Vikings got the tie on the next point. The Panthers got the next point, and successfully challenged the next call to go up 17-15. Two more Viking errors took the lead to 19-15, and a Madi Malone kill made it 20-15 and Cleveland State took a time-out. The Panther run extended to a sixth point before a service error gave the the Vikings a point. The Panthers got to set point on consecutive kills by Carmen Heilemann, off of the Viking block, and the Vikings took their second time-out trailing 24-16. The Vikings fought off one point, and Heilemann's fourth kill finished the set. Malone and Ari Miller also had four kills for the Panthers, who hit .500 for the set.
Set two started with the Vikings playing better, taking an early lead, but the Panthers took the lead and gradually built it up again, winning 25-17. The Panthers hit .444 in set two, and were hitting .471 through two sets. Malone had eight kills in the set, and Miller three. Miller was hitting a match high .636.
Set three was more Panther domination, as they got the sweep 25-14. Malone had no kills, as Heilemann had had none in set two. Malone dig get on the board with a block assist. Heilemann had seven kills in the set and Miller had four. Malone had 12 kills for the match, and Miller and Heilemann had 11. Heilemann wound up hitting .400 for the match and Miller .588. The team finished hitting .416 for the match. The Panthers are now 6-0 in league play.
After watching the Panthers sweep the Vikings, I tuned in to an entertaining UIC - Oakland match. UIC handled the Grizzlies in the first set, but Oakland bounced back to take set two, and came back in set three. The Flames had set point at 24-23, and Oakland took a time-out. It looked like the Flame had the set, as the Grizzlies sent an overpass at them, but the Flames' hitter mistimed her jump and had to watch the ball fall to the floor. UIC got to set point twice more, and Oakland fought it off twice more. A Flames hitting error gave Oakland their first set point, and Okland got the win 28-26 to go up two sets to one. The Grizzlies got out a a 5-0 lead to begin set four, largely on Flame errors as UIC hitters repeatedly hit balls long that the Oakland defense was content to let sail. When the lead reached 9-3, UIC took their first time-out. The break seemed to settle the Flames, as they got two quick points, but after the Grizzlies got a block off a long rally, UIC ran off eight points. When the Flames lead reached 17-13, Oakland got two quick points, then two more to pull into an 18-all tie, at which point the Flames called time-out number two. The score was tied again at 21-all and 22-all. Oakland then got to match point at 24-22, and scored on a long rally to win the match. And just like that, there was only one undefeated team in HL volleyball: your Milwaukee Panthers.
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Post by skrapheap on Oct 8, 2021 19:39:58 GMT -6
After playing four road matches in their first six league matches this season, Milwaukee will play five matches at home, followed by a match at Green Bay. The toughest opponent in that stretch will be the first, UIC, on Tuesday night.
The next four have two, one, two, and zero wins in conference play, so the Panthers will have a good chance to put some distance between themselves and the rest of the league.
There are still four matches this weekend: two tomorrow and two on Sunday.
Saturday afternoon winless IUPUI visits Northern Kentucky, whose only loss in league play thus far was a 3-1 loss to the Panthers in Milwaukee. Purdue Fort Wayne travels to play Wright State, who has rebounded from losses to NKU and Milwaukee.
Cleveland State and UIC play Sunday at 1:00 Central Time. A Cleveland win at home would send the Flames to Milwaukee with two losses. Green Bay wraps up their weekend at Oakland, also starting at 1:00 Central.
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Post by skrapheap on Oct 9, 2021 13:10:49 GMT -6
I was shocked to find, as I started to watch tonight's match with Cleveland State, that the Vikings were no longer undefeated in league play. As the Panthers were sweeping Oakland, Green Bay came back from two sets down to win in five sets at Cleveland. The Phoenix played the Raiders tough, and their two losses were close ones, and when I stopped watching, Cleveland State looked like they were going to get the sweep. Apparently the Phoenix really got going after I stopped watching. I may have to check out the replay. I did replay the match between Green Bay and Cleveland State, and the story was more interesting than i thought initially. Cleveland State did win the first set, but they had to overcome a 12-4 deficit on the way. The Vikings won a close second set, and their play-by-play guy was going on and on about how the Phoenix hadn't won a set in three matches, having been swept in each of their previous three league losses. Since they lost the the first two to Cleveland State, the Phoenix had lost a total of 11 consecutive sets. And it really did look like the Vikings were going to get the sweep. They led most of the way through set three. The lead reached 19-15 before Green Bay got untracked. The Phoenix ran off four points to tie the score. The lead changed hands a few times before the Phoenix scored three points after a 22-all tie to get the win and avoid a fourth straight sweep. Cleveland State got out to a 9-5 lead in set four, prompting a Green Bay time-out. The Vikings scored twice more and the Phoenix took their second time-out trailing 11-5. The run began with a Viking challenge which changed a six-all tie into a 7-5 Viking lead. Green Bay scored five of the next six points, and Cleveland State took a time-out leading 12-10. The break stopped the Phoenix run briefly, but CSU took a second time-out with a 14-13 lead, but when play resumed, GB pushed in front 17-15. Another successful Viking challenge briefly slowed the Phoenix, but Green Bay won the set 25-21. CSU won their third challenge of the night to force a three-all tie in set five, but GB pushed on, forcing a Viking time-out leading 6-4. Green Bay tried and succeeded on a challenge to push the lead to 9-5, then scored consecutive points to prompt a Cleveland State time-out. The Vikings score two of the next three points and the Phoenix took a time-out. A Green Bay kill and a Cleveland State error gave the Phoenix six match points. The Vikings got one back, and a Phoenix kill finished the match.
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Post by skrapheap on Oct 12, 2021 19:25:02 GMT -6
Milwaukee got off to a great start in set one versus UIC. Out of a four-all tie, the Panthers ran off four consecutive points to force a Flames time-out. The Panthers built the lead to 15-7, hitting upwards of .700 in the early going. During the run, Carmen Heilemann got her 1000th career kill (the 17th in program history to reach that total) and Riley Vaughn got her 1000th career dig, to go with 2000 career assists (the fifth in program history with 1000 digs and 2000 assists). The Panthers had 11 set points in the Flames and gave up three before a Heilemann kill closed out the set.
UIC started well in set two, getting out to an early lead and hanging on late to win 25-22. The Panthers matched their set one total hitting errors (four) early in set two. The Flames back line did a much better job of digging balls and keeping rallies alive.
Set three was more evenly played. The Panthers closed in on the Flames and took a 10-9 lead to force a UIC time-out. The Panthers scored the next four points (six consecutive) to push the lead to 14-9. A Lauren Spaulding ace made the score 16-12. Three points for the Flames on two Panther hitting errors prompted a Panther time-out with the lead at 16-15. Milwaukee re-extended the lead to three, and then traded points with UIC to a 22-19 lead, when the Flames took their second time-out. After a Panther error cut the lead back to 23-21, the Panthers took their second time-out. Milwaukee got to set point on a UIC error, and a Madi Malone kill (her 10th on the night) finished the set. Ari Miller was at 17 kills ( on a .577 hitting percentage) through three sets. The Panther block was better than than it generally is, matching the Flames' three-set total of six.
The Panthers went up 10-4 on a five point run and the Flames took a time-out. The run reached eight out of the break and the lead was 13-4, forcing the second UIC time-out. The high-water mark for the Panther lead was ten at 18-8. The Panthers took their first time out after consecutive Flames points. The second Milwaukee time-out came as UIC cut the lead to 22-17. A Flame service error (their seventh) gave the Panthers six match points. A Malone-Miller block won the match.
The Panthers hit at least .200 in all four sets and .282 for the match. The Flames hit better in each set and .203 for the match. Miller finished with 19 kills and a .515 hitting percentage. Heilemann finished with 13 kills and hit .300. It was the tenth consecutive match for both with double-digit kills. Malone also had 13 kills on the night, to go with 10 digs.
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Post by skrapheap on Oct 13, 2021 8:20:12 GMT -6
The next four matches for the Panthers are at home, after they beat UIC 3-1 on Tuesday night.
Thursday night, the Panthers host Robert Morris. RMU is 2-4 in league play and 9-9 overall. They are coming off a five-set win at home versus Youngstown State six days ago.
Sunday afternoon, Milwaukee hosts Youngstown State, currently 1-5 in league play and 4-13 overall. The Penguins are in the midst of a five game road trip. They've lost their last two matches, having been swept by Wright State before losing to Robert Morris. The remainder of the trip will be a challenge: the Penguins play at Green Bay on Thursday night and UIC on Friday night, with Saturday off before they come to the Klotsche Center.
The Panthers home stand concludes the following weekend, with a night match against Purdue Fort Wayne on Thursday, October 21st and and a Friday night match with IUPUI. The Panthers faced both teams on the road to begin league play, beating Purdue Fort Wayne 3-1 and IUPUI 3-0. Purdue Fort Wayne and IUPUI have played the most league matches thus far: nine. Purdue Fort Wayne is 3-6, their most recent win was Tuesday night at home against Cleveland State. IUPUI is 0-9; they lost to Oakland 3-1 after winning the first set on Tuesday night.
The Panthers next road match is Monday, October 25th at Green Bay. That match will be the last of a five match home stand for the Phoenix. They will be hosting the same teams the Panthers will be hosting over the first four matches, though in a different order. Green Bay is currently 3-4 in league play. Last weekend they beat Cleveland State and lost to Oakland on the road. Both matches were five-set affairs. I've already written about the Green Bay-Cleveland State match.
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Post by skrapheap on Oct 14, 2021 5:15:37 GMT -6
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Post by skrapheap on Oct 14, 2021 18:32:29 GMT -6
About the only thing the Panthers had not done in league play this season was win a three-set victory at home. After tonight's match with Robert Morris, you can check that off the list. The Panthers rolled to a win, 25-13, 25-17, and 25-8. They hit .361 for the match, after hitting .556 in the first set (16 hits and one error in 27 attempts). None of the Panther hitters finished the match with a negative hitting percentage.
Carmen Heilemann was strong in multiple categories tonight. She hit .500 with 11 kills, and had five service aces, including three in a decisive seven-point run in the third set. Ari Miller also had 11 kills and hit .533. Miller had a hand in both of the Panthers' blocks on the night: one solo and one assist. For both Miller and Heilemann, it was their eleventh consecutive match with double-digit kills. Madi Malone had six kills and six digs.
On the defensive side, Milwaukee held RMU to a .012 hitting percentage on the night. The Colonials' best performance came in the first set, where they hit .071.
Meanwhile, Youngstown State, who will be the Panther's opponent on Sunday, was in Green Bay playing the Phoenix. Green Bay won the first two sets fairly easily, but the Penguins played much stronger in set three, taking a 15-14 lead and then scoring three more points in succession to take an 18-14 lead, whereupon the Phoenix took a time-out. The Phoenix scored three of the next four points to cut the lead to 19-17, prompting a YSU time-out. Out of the break, the Penguins got a point off a long rally, which they gave up immediately on a service error. Two Penguin hitting errors knotted the set at 21-all. The Penguins retook a 22-21 lead, but the Phoenix quickly tied the score again, only to give it up by serving into the net. A Green Bay kill at the end of another nice rally tied the score again, and the Phoenix got to match point with another kill. The Penguins took their second time-out to try to stave off the sweep, but were unable to do so.
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Post by skrapheap on Oct 15, 2021 13:09:17 GMT -6
The Panthers have Friday night off, the only HL team not playing. There are five other matches scheduled. Of most interest to Milwaukee is the match between the teams immediately behind them in the standings: Northern Kentucky is in second place with a 5-1 league record, and they host Oakland, the third place squad with a 6-2 record in league play. Heading into tonight's match, the Norse have won four consecutive matches and Oakland has won three.
Behind the Golden Grizzlies are two teams with 4-2 records, defending champion Wright State (four consecutive league wins after opening the season with losses to NKU and Milwaukee) and UIC, who lost to the Panthers on Tuesday night. The Raiders host Cleveland State (currently tied with Green Bay for sixth place). The Vikings have had a rough go of it of late, and I don't envy them having to face the Raiders in Dayton. UIC is hosting Youngstown State. The other matches on the schedule is Purdue Fort Wayne at IUPUI and Robert Morris at Green Bay.
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Post by skrapheap on Oct 17, 2021 16:46:14 GMT -6
Milwaukee's domination of Youngstown State was about as complete as it could have been. The Panthers swept the Penguins 25-9, 25-14, and 25-12. They outhit the Penguins .357 to .055. Milwaukee had 11 service aces in the three sets to seven for Youngstown State. The Panthers even finished with nine total blocks to three by the Penguins.
Madi Malone led the Panthers with 10 kills on a .381 hitting percentage; she also had two aces, four digs and a block assist. Carmen Heilemann contributed nine kills (on a .412 hitting percentage), four assists, a service ace, four block assists and eight digs. Ari Miller had eight kills (.281 hitting percentage), an ace, two digs and a solo block and three block assists. It was the first time in twelve matches that Heilemann and Miller did no reach double digits in kills.
Milwaukee now begins a stretch of five matches in nine days, beginning with the last two matches of the home stand next Thursday with Purdue Fort Wayne and Friday with IUPUI. After Saturday and Sunday off, the Panthers begin a three game road trip with a rare Monday night match in Green Bay. The following Thursday and Friday, the Panthers will face the biggest challenge of the league season with matches at Northern Kentucky and at Wright State, the teams closest to the Panthers in the standings.
Coach Johnson will make sure the Panthers will be focused first on the Mastodons and Jaguars, but the road swing could pretty much clinch the regular season title.
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Post by skrapheap on Oct 21, 2021 9:19:05 GMT -6
For the first time in five weeks, neither of the Volleyball Players of the Week at the Horizon League website were Milwaukee Panthers.
This is attributable to the Panthers' efficiency in their two wins last week: they swept both of their matches, and with their scoring balance, no one Panther player compiled the kind of gaudy statistics which attracts a player of the week honor.
Carmen Heilemann was mentioned in the League's "Weekly Assist," a kind of capsule summary of the previous week's action, as averaging 3.3 kills/set and hitting .457 in the two Panther sweeps.
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Post by skrapheap on Oct 21, 2021 19:04:32 GMT -6
The Panthers were very efficient in their sweep of Purdue Fort Wayne tonight. They hit .310 for the match, 39 kills on 87 total attacks with only 12 errors. The Mastodon had 17 more attacks, but eight more errors, and hit only .096. The Panthers had 36 digs to only 24 for the Mastodons, and six service aces to one error while the Msstodons had seven errors and no aces. Milwaukee outblocked Fort Wayne six to four.
Madi Malone was the only Panther to reach double digits in kills, with 13 on a .385 hitting percentage. Carmen Heilemann and Abby Koenen had nine kills each. Ari Miller had a rare off-night, with five kills and a .273 hitting percentage, but was a part of two Panther blocks. She also had three consecutive service aces in the first set to help the Panthers pull away from the Madtodons.
Tomorrow night's opponent will be IUPUI, in last place at 1-10. They took a set from UIC tonight. The Flames had 16 service aces on the night, but 14 service errors.
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