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Post by skrapheap on Oct 15, 2023 20:32:41 GMT -6
One day after the Panthers played their most complete match of the season, they played a forgettable match at Cleveland State. After taking leads in the first two sets with offensive runs, the Panthers gave up runs which allowed the Vikings to take control of the set and win both. The Panthers played better in the third set, but the Vikings hung on to win the set 26-24 to sweep the match.
Action elsewhere in the league reconfigured the standings significantly. Milwaukee remains in first place, but are now tied with Wright State at 7-2 records at the end of the first pass through the league schedule. Oakland bounced back from Friday's thumping at the hands of Milwaukee to pull off a five set win over visiting Green Bay, leaving both teams with a 6-3 record. Northern Kentucky swept IUPUI to pull into a tie with Oakland and Green Bay. Cleveland State improved to 5-4 and held on to sole possession of sixth place.
It seems likely, absent a monumental run by a team or teams at the bottom of the standings, the field for the HL Tournament is easy to predict, as none of the four teams (IUPUI, Youngstown State, Purdue Fort Wayne, and Robert Morris, all of whom have 2-7 records) have shown signs of competing consistently. The final order of the top six teams may change from week to week, but I see all of the current top six teams earning bids.
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Post by skrapheap on Oct 20, 2023 19:16:22 GMT -6
The headline for the Cleveland State match coverage at mkepanthers.com used the word "stymied” to describe the Panthers' performance. The same word applied to how the Panthers played for the first two sets tonight against Purdue Fort Wayne. The Panthers struggled to score and were unable to put together a run of more than three points.
Fortunately for Milwaukee, they were playing a two-win Mastodon squad tonight. With their backs to the wall, the Panthers gutted out a 33-31 set three win, and then seized control with a 25-12 set four win. Milwaukee took an early lead in set five, with stood a late surge by PFW, and won the fifth set 15-11 to win the match.
Madi Malone went toe to toe with Purdue Fort Wayne's freshman star Panna Ratkai. Malone had 26 kills to 35 for Ratkai, but Malone had more help: Natalie Schmitz had 13 kills and Ari Miller had nine. After a slow start defensively, Milwaukee finished with 12 blocks to 10 for the Mastodons, and out dug them 82-69. The defensive edge allowed the Panthers to outhit the Mastodons .222 to .177.
The win kept Milwaukee at the top of the standings at 8-2, tied with Wright State, who was idle tonight. Green Bay needed five sets to defeat IUPUI tonight, which pulled the Phoenix into a third-place tie with idle Northern Kentucky at 7-3. Cleveland State won their third consecutive match, defeating Youngstown State 3-1 to raise their league record to 6-4 and pulled them into a fifth place tie with Oakland, who lost 3-1 to Robert Morris (the Colonials' third league win this season).
Tomorrow all ten league teams will play. Milwaukee travels to Indianapolis to play the Jaguars, and Green Bay plays Purdue Fort Wayne. The marquee match will be Wright State at Northern Kentucky. The Raiders won the earlier matchup at home.
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Post by thetruth on Oct 21, 2023 7:13:34 GMT -6
I know they are having a quality season this year, but it is a shame the volleyball program isn't competitive year after year. There is so much HS volleyball talent in the state that we need to do a better job of tapping into and getting those top players that don't go Power Five. Volleyball is a fun and exciting sport to watch, and it could be a marquee sport for us, but something is holding us back.
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Post by skrapheap on Oct 21, 2023 12:33:31 GMT -6
The Panthers were picked to finish quite high last year, and wound up in fifth with a 9-9 record. They had a number of injuries to key players, Ari Miller among them. A healthy team probably would have been done better.
Two years ago they were champs. It was a few seasons before that that they were consistently contenders, but the last two years have been better and this year they are a top team in a competitive league. This season I have seen something I hadn't seen before: public appeals on social media for contributions targeted to the volleyball program. Perhaps the Athletic Department is deciding that the program needs some additional funding, which can only help.
Recruiting players good enough to play Power Five volleyball are going to be a tough get. In addition to the Badgers, who are currently on top of D1 volleyball, Marquette has had a strong program in a high major conference which compete with Milwaukee for the best players who aren't going out of state to play. Green Bay has been on the upswing recently, so they figure in to the picture as well now.
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Post by skrapheap on Oct 21, 2023 16:57:40 GMT -6
Milwaukee finished the weekend and their four match road trip with a 3-1 win over IUPUI.
The Jaguars took the first set 25-18. The Panthers responded by taking sets two and three by 25-17 scores. Milwaukee jumped out to a lead in set two, scoring the first five points for a lead they would not relinquish. The Panthers took longer to build the lead in set three, but pulled away mid-set and won easily. IUPUI made a game of it in set four, but the Panthers put the match away with another late surge.
Ari Miller led all scorers with 16 kills and no attack errors and hit .571 for the match. Madi Malone again reached double-figures in kills with 15 and Natalie Schmitz had 11 kills and hit .417. Milwaukee hit .298 for the match to .192 for IUPUI.
Other league matches shook up the standings. The Panthers are alone in first place at 9-2, matching their league win total for last year. Northern Kentucky avenged their earlier loss to Wright State by winning in five sets at home. The Norse and the Raiders are tied for second at 8-3. Green Bay was swept by Purdue Fort Wayne to fall to 7-4, tied for fourth with Cleveland State. Oakland, playing a late match with Youngstown State, could pull into a tie with the Vikings and the Phoenix with a win.
The Panthers will be at home next weekend to Youngstown State and Robert Morris.
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Post by skrapheap on Oct 23, 2023 12:20:10 GMT -6
As things played out this fall, the Panthers league schedule consisted of four matches against teams well down in the standings and then five matches against the other teams in the top six.
On the first pass through the league, the Panthers won the first four matches and then went 3-2 in the tough part of the schedule. Three of the matches (two of the wins) were at home. The Panthers went 1-1 on the road. The tough part of the second pass will be reversed: three road matches against Green Bay, Northern Kentucky, and Wright State, and then home matches against Oakland and Cleveland State.
The Panthers and the Phoenix are the only HL teams who will not play tomorrow night. The teams in the top six who are playing are all playing at home, so the expectation is that they all will win. The one match that might, in my opinion, be highly competitive is Purdue Fort Wayne at Oakland. The Mastodons went up two sets to nothing against the Panthers last weekend but lost in five sets. The next day, the Mastodons hosted the Phoenix, but in the third set PFW was able to put the match away. If PFW is able to play that well, they may be able to upset the Golden Grizzlies, which would for the moment put Oakland alone in sixth place (barring any other upsets on the evening).
There is, theoretically, still time for one of the bottom four teams to rise up in the standings and challenge for the fifth or sixth spot in the HL tournament field, but I don't think that will happen. The top six teams are all pretty solid, and it would require one or more of the top six teams to collapse on a massive scale. The margin of error for a bottom four team is small enough that I don't see PFW, IUPUI, Youngstown State, or Robert Morris pulling it off. Those teams might play spoiler as the top six teams try to get the higher seeds for the tournament.
I like the Panthers' chances of finishing in the top seed. It will be a challenge to beat the Phoenix, the Norse, and the Raiders on the road, but this Panther team has the offensive and defensive firepower to do that. The parity in the league may reconfigure the top six spots in the standings on a match by match basis, but it also could help to keep the Panthers at the top.
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Post by skrapheap on Oct 23, 2023 13:35:49 GMT -6
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Post by skrapheap on Oct 24, 2023 20:14:23 GMT -6
The home teams won tonight: Cleveland State swept IUPUI, Wright State beat Robert Morris 3-1, Oakland beat Purdue Fort Wayne in five sets, and Northern Kentucky beat Youngstown State in five sets as well. I was really hoping for some upsets, and PFW and YSU both had their opportunities.
The Mastodons won the first and third sets, 25-22 and 26-24, before the Golden Grizzlies hit their stride. After winning set two by a 25-22 score, Oakland thoroughly dominated play in set four, 25-9, outhitting Purdue Fort Wayne .423 to -.158. The Mastodons were not able to score consecutive points at all in the set. Oakland had the upper hand in the fifth set, leading from wire to wire. The Grizzlies had five match points and hung on to win 15-11.
The Penguins lost the first two sets and then battled back to take sets three and four. The Norse ultimately won the match with a surge which started with YSU leading 12-10, scoring five of the last six points in the set.
Wright State and Northern Kentucky improved to 9-3, a half game back of Milwaukee. Cleveland State and Oakland improved to 8-4, half a game ahead of Green Bay.
Next weekend, Wright State and Northern Kentucky are on the road against Cleveland State and Oakland. The Raiders play the Vikings on Friday and the Grizzlies on Saturday. The Norse play the Grizzlies on Friday and the Vikings on Saturday. The Vikings and the Norse currently have five match win streaks, and could face each other with six match streaks on Saturday.
Milwaukee and Green Bay, in contrast, are both at home hosting Youngstown State and Robert Morris. The Penguins are at the Klotsche on Friday night and the Colonials visit on Saturday afternoon. The Phoenix play the Colonials on Friday night and the Penguins on Saturday afternoon. The Panthers and Phoenix have good odds of sweeping their matches, but I doubt either team will overlook any opponent. If they can sweep the weekend, that will help secure higher seeds in the tournament, particularly if Oakland and Cleveland State can manage at least a split on the weekend.
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Post by joetix on Oct 27, 2023 8:27:45 GMT -6
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Post by skrapheap on Oct 27, 2023 19:53:18 GMT -6
It's supposed to be hard to win on the road in sports. Apparently the memo didn't get to all the the HL road teams tonight.
Wright State started the match in Cleveland by scoring the first eight points of set one on their way to a 25-9 shellacking of the Vikings. The Raiders swept the match and snapped Cleveland State's five match winning streak.
Northern Kentucky, with a five match winning streak of its own, won the first two sets on the road against Oakland, but the Norse also saw their winning streak come to an end as the Golden Grizzlies pulled off the reverse sweep.
Even Robert Morris managed to win the first set in Green Bay tonight before the Phoenix got going to win in four.
In the Klotsche Center tonight, Milwaukee got off to a hot start against Youngstown State and won set one 25-14. Ari Miller had six kills in the set. The Penguins, who had taken three of their last five matches to five sets, rebounded to win sets two and three. The Panthers again got out to a fast start in set four and won it 25-15. The fifth set went back and forth to a 7-all tie, and then the Panthers reeled off eight consecutive points to win the set and the match. The Panthers were significantly outblocked by the Penguins, but the service game played a huge role in the win. Milwaukee had 13 aces against only two service errors.
It was an evening of milestones for the team and the program. Ari Miller broke the career matches played and career sets played records. She had 19 kills as she continues to climb toward the top spot in so many statistical categories. Her current career total of 1488 kills has her third in program history, 46 kills out of second place and 72 kills out of first place. With six regular season matches left after tonight; if she averages 12 kills per match, she will tie Ericka Malterer. Miller hit .613 for the match, and already is at the top in career hitting percentage. She is third in career blocks and currently sixth in kills/set.
Madi Malone reached 1000 career kills in only her 87th career match. Sophomore setter Josie Johnson reached the 1000 mark in career assists.
The crowd tonight was the second largest home crowd in program history, 913.
As a result of this evening's matches, Milwaukee remains alone in first place with a 10-2 record. Wright State's win puts them alone in second place at 10-3. Oakland and NKU are tied for third at 9-4. Green Bay is currently fifth at 8-4, just ahead of sixth place Cleveland State at 8-5.
Tomorrow Milwaukee hosts Robert Morris, Green Bay hosts YSU, Cleveland State hosts NKU, Oakland hosts Wright State, and IUPUI hosts Purdue Fort Wayne.
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Post by skrapheap on Oct 28, 2023 17:46:52 GMT -6
Milwaukee completed the weekend sweep against Robert Morris with a sweep. It was their fourth straight win. The victory kept them alone in first place at 11-2, one half game ahead of Wright State at 11-3. Northern Kentucky and Green Bay are next at 9-4 followed by Oakland at 9-5 and then Cleveland State at 8-6. Wright State and Northern Kentucky won tonight.
Madi Malone again led the Panthers with 14 kills, followed by Natalie Schmitz with 11 and Bri Geurtz with 10. Milwaukee hit .378 to .198. After scoring a season high 13 service aces last night, the Panthers had seven tonight.
The Panthers now make a second pass through the other teams in the top six: at Green Bay on Tuesday, at Wright State on Friday, at Northern Kentucky on Saturday, and then at home the following weekend: Cleveland State on Friday November 10 and Oakland on Saturday November 11, to wind up league regular season play. Beating Wright State and Northern Kentucky would be the easiest route to locking up the first seed.
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Post by skrapheap on Nov 4, 2023 15:40:06 GMT -6
After losing 3-0 to Green Bay and 3-1 to Wright State, in matches where the offense struggled at times, Milwaukee beat Northern Kentucky on the road for only the second time in ten trips overall. The victory was number 20 on the season.
In addition to pulling off the rare road win against the Norse, the Panthers showed that while the serve game is important, it is possible to win while being outscored 14-3 on service aces. The Panthers overcame the deficit by hitting .371 for the match and outblocking the Norse 8-3.
Natalie Schmitz had 15 kills, Ari Miller had 13, and Lakyn Graves had 10. Madi Malone finished with eight kills, the first time in 14 matches she did not have 10 or more.
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Post by skrapheap on Nov 5, 2023 9:24:21 GMT -6
Heading into the final week of the league season, the current top six teams are pretty much assured of a tournament bid, although the seeding is still uncertain.
Wright State is in first place, and in the drivers seat for the regular season championship, with the attendant tournament bye and hosting the tournament. The Raiders are one match up on second place Milwaukee, and finish the season with road matches at Purdue Fort Wayne (seventh place, 5-10 in league play) and at IUPUI (tenth place, 3-12 in league play). The Raiders are currently the hottest team in the league with a five match winning streak.
Milwaukee is currently alone in second place at 12-4, one match ahead of third place Green Bay, one and one-half ahead of Oakland and two matches ahead of Northern Kentucky. The Panthers finish the regular season at home against Cleveland State and Oakland. Winning out would give Milwaukee the second seed; no other team could catch them in that case. The Panthers would have to win out and get help to pass or tie Wright State. Losing one or both of the remaining matches would open all sorts of possibilities for tournament seeding.
Green Bay also finishes the season at home, against Oakland and Cleveland State. The Phoenix would get a higher seed over the Panthers in a tie because they swept the Panthers.
Oakland has three matches remaining, beginning with a home match against IUPUI before the road trip to Green Bay and Oakland.
Like Wright State, Northern Kentucky finishes on the road with IUPUI and Purdue Fort Wayne. The Norse need to win out and have the teams ahead of them lose at least one match to improve their tournament seeding.
Cleveland State has three road matches, against Purdue Fort Wayne on Tuesday night before the weekend trip to Wisconsin. Winning out would give the Vikings a record of 11-7, which in all probability would not be high enough to secure a tournament bye.
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Post by skrapheap on Nov 9, 2023 15:11:40 GMT -6
An update heading into the final weekend of league play. The top six teams: School Name | HL W/L | Overall W/L | Wright State | 13-3 | 17-10 | Milwaukee | 12-4 | 20-10 | Oakland | 11-5 | 17-11 | Green Bay | 11-5 | 13-15 | Northern Kentucky | 10-6 | 15-12 | Cleveland State | 9-7 | 15-12 |
Some observations: - The Panthers are the only HL team with 20 wins on the season. This is unusual, as there have been multiple teams finishing with 20 wins in recent years. Wright State could reach 20 wins by winning out this weekend and winning their first HL Tournament match. Oakland could get to 20 in the same manner. NKU and CSU would have to win out this weekend and then win three matches in the HL Tournament.
- The best Oakland or Green Bay could do is 13 league wins, which could tie for first only if Wright State loses two matches.
- The best Northern Kentucky could do is 12 league wins, which could tie them for second place.
- The best Cleveland State could do is tie for third, and that only if the teams ahead of them stumble badly. The Vikings play two of those teams this weekend.
- None of the remaining teams in the league could finish with better than seven league wins.
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Post by skrapheap on Nov 11, 2023 18:34:17 GMT -6
Heading into the weekend, job one for the Panthers was to win out and so secure the second seed for the upcoming HL tournament. The opponents were to be Cleveland State and Oakland, both teams assured of tournament bids. There was an outside chance that the Panthers could tie Wright State in the standings, but the first seed and hosting rights would have had to be determined by tiebreakers. There was an even slighter chance to pass the Raiders.
The Vikings swept the Panthers in Cleveland, as their defense largely shut down the Panther offense. Last night's match played out similarly, except the Panthers won set two leading to a 3-1 Cleveland State victory. Green Bay and Cleveland State were the only teams to get a season sweep against the Panthers, and all four matches played out similarly, as the Phoenix and Viking defenses seemed always to have an answer for the Panthers' offense, which otherwise comfortably lead the league.
Last night the Panthers got off to a good start in set one, leading by as many as six points late, 22-16. The Vikings put together a five point run, and the scored five of the next eight points to take the set 26-24. The Panthers trailed for most of set two, before reeling off five points of their own, then fought off two set points to tie the set at 24-all, and eventually won 28-26. Cleveland State won sets three and four to take the match, which took the Panthers' tournament seeding out of their hands. Green Bay's win over Oakland pulled them into a tie for second place with Milwaukee, which tie would give the Panthers the third seed because of the Phoenix's season sweep of the Panthers. Wright State swept Purdue Fort Wayne, clinching the top seed.
Heading into today, the Panthers still had a chance at the second seed, but they would need Cleveland State to beat Green Bay in Green Bay in addition to beating Oakland. The Panthers held up their end, sweeping the Golden Grizzlies and were left to wait for the outcome of the Viking-Phoenix match.
Green Bay won the first set 25-15, but the Vikings took sets two and three. Green Bay rebounded to build a four-point lead in set four in hopes of forcing a set five. The Phoenix largely kept the Vikings from putting together a scoring run until late in the set, forcing a Green Bay time out when the lead diminished to 23-21. The Phoenix scored twice out of the break and took the set.
The Phoenix built on that momentum to score four of the first five points in set five, prompting a Viking time-out. Cleveland State scored three consecutive points and looked to have tied the scores, but a Green Bay challenge made the score 6-4. The Vikings tied the score at 7-all and again at 8-all after the teams switched sides. A Phoenix error gave the Vikings a 9-8 lead and Green Bay took a time-out. Green Bay tied the score at 10-all then took an 11-10 lead which prompted the second Viking time-out. The Phoenix took their last time out when Cleveland State tied the score at 12-all. The Vikings challenged the 14th Phoenix point unsuccessfully and Green Bay won the set and the match 15-13, clinching the second seed.
The Panthers will be the third seed and will try to solve the problem that is Cleveland State in the quarterfinals next Friday.
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