Milwaukee City Wire

The Milwaukee Panthers women's volleyball team is set to host DePaul University at the Klotsche Center on Wednesday, September 17, with the match scheduled for 6:00 p.m. and broadcast on ESPN+. Following this home game, the Panthers will travel to Tempe, Arizona, for three matches against Grand Canyon University on Friday, Pepperdine University on Saturday, and Arizona State University on Sunday. The match against Arizona State will also be available on ESPN+.

This week marks the second consecutive week in which Milwaukee will play four matches. Last week, the Panthers lost all four of their games, including a defeat by No. 6 Wisconsin and losses to James Madison, Ball State, and Marquette.

Milwaukee holds a 13-4 record over DePaul in their previous meetings. This season marks first-ever meetings between Milwaukee and both Grand Canyon and Pepperdine. The upcoming match against No. 8 Arizona State will be their first since August 27, 2011.

DePaul was picked sixth in the Big East Conference preseason poll after finishing last season with a 21-14 record and reaching the final eight of the National Invitational Volleyball Championship. So far this year, DePaul has started with five wins in eight matches.

Grand Canyon enters its first season in the Mountain West Conference after leaving the Western Athletic Conference. The Antelopes have won six of their first eight games this year.

Pepperdine began its season with a 4-3 record and was selected second in the West Coast Conference preseason poll.

Arizona State was ranked third in the Big 12 Conference preseason poll and is currently ranked No. 8 nationally after starting its season with six wins out of eight matches.

Milwaukee’s next Horizon League games are scheduled for September 26-27 against Oakland before hosting Green Bay on September 30.

Several players have reached personal milestones recently. Senior Natalie Schmitz joined Milwaukee's "1,000 kill club" during a match against Iowa State; Josie Johnson became just the tenth player in program history to reach at least 1,800 career assists; Kara Erdmann returns as last year's Horizon League Defensive Player of the Year; Milica Tomic earned All-Freshman honors last season; while head coach Susie Johnson is approaching her 200th league win.

Coach Johnson added Raina Terry to her staff for this season following Terry’s collegiate career at Illinois and professional experience with Columbus Fury of Major League Volleyball.

Looking ahead to next year, Northern Illinois will join as a full-time member of the Horizon League.