Who | Northern Illinois | Milwaukee
Where | Dekalb, IL (Huskie Invitational)
When | Friday (Aug. 30), Saturday (Aug. 31) | 6:00 PM & 7:00 PM 
Social Media | @WIUVolleyball (Twitter) + wiu_volleyball (Instagram) + WIU Volleyball (Facebook)

    

Macomb, IL- The WIU Volleyball team starts the 2024 regular season at the Northern Illinois Huskie Invitational on Friday and Saturday where they will be taking on the Northern Illinois Huskies and the Milwaukee Panthers. The Leathernecks are entering year two as a member of the Ohio Valley Conference coming off an appearance in the OVC volleyball tournament in year one. 

Key Returners 

The Leathernecks return 13 players from a season ago in which they made an appearance in the Ohio Valley Conference tournament as a 7 seed in their first season as a member of the OVC. Some key returners include Karli Wenzel, Elizabeth Ziegler, and Brittany Wulf.

Karli Wenzel led the team in digs last season with 510 and moved into the top five all-time in Leatherneck Volleyball history for career digs. She played in all 30 games last season as the starting libero and was tied for fourth on the team in aces with 19. 

Elizabeth Ziegler comes off of a 2023 season in which she appeared in 18 games starting in 10 of them. Ziegler was sixth on the team in blocks with 26 and had a season high in kills, points, and total blocks against Morehead State last season. 

Brittany Wulf is coming off of a 2023 season in which she was second on the team in kills with 229, and was second on the team in service aces with 33. Wulf appeared in 26 matches starting in 17 of them. She was also named the OVC Offensive Player of the Week on October 9th, 2023. 

Newcomers

Western Illinois brings in 4 newcomers all of which are freshmen. Karlie Lane comes from St. Pius X High School in Missouri where she helped her team finish second in the class 4 Missouri State Volleyball tournament in 2023. She was also named their top libero dynamite defender. 

Melaina Hawblitzel earned All-Conference honors three years in a row from 2021-2023 at Warsaw High School in Warsaw, Indiana. Hawblitzel was additionally named to the AVCA girls High School All-Region and Best and Brightest teams in 2023, earning her a try out with the North All-Stars. 

Preseason Player to Watch/All-OVC Team

Keyana Cruse was named to the preseason All-OVC team and Maggie Craker was named to the preseason OVC player to watch list. Cruse led the team in kills last season with 403, as well as total attacks with 1,254. The transfer from UNLV was named to the OVC All-Conference First Team and was named OVC Offensive Player of the week on September 11th, 2023. She is the first leatherneck since 2007 to be named to the All Conference First team. 

Maggie Craker, who currently sits in the top 10 for assists all time in Leatherneck volleyball history, comes off of a 2023 season in which she started all 30 games and led the team in assists with 1,073. She had a season high 56 assists against Missouri State on September 15th, 2023 and also had a career high for digs in a season with 306.

About NIU

Northern Illinois opens up their 2024 campaign on their home floor against the Leathernecks, which was a strength for the Huskies last season with half of their wins from a season ago coming at home. The last time these two teams met was back in 2021 at the NIU Invitational where the Huskies defeated the Leathernecks 3-1. WIU is 10-18 all-time against NIU and have not beat them since 2005. In 2023, the Huskies went 8-22 under first year head coach Sondra D'Amore. In 2024, NIU has 10 of their 16 players on their roster that are Juniors or Seniors. 

About Milwaukee 

Milwaukee and WIU face each other for the 2nd time in as many years as last year the Panthers beat the Leathernecks at the Cougar Classic in Edwardsville by a score of 3-2. In 2023, Milwaukee went 21-12 finishing 3rd in the Horizon with a conference record of 13-5. WIU is 5-3 in their last 8 matches against the Panthers dating back to 1990, including a 4 game winning streak against the Panthers from 1990-1994. 

Last time out

The Leathernecks finished last season 9-21 with 8 of their wins coming in conference play, the most in a season since 2007. Getting the number 7 seed in the OVC tournament, WIU lost 3-2 in a 5 set thriller to number 2 seed SEMO, who went on to play in the OVC tournament championship game. It was the first time WIU had qualified for a conference tournament since 2013, losing to number 3 seed South Dakota 3-0 that season. On Saturday, WIU defeated Quincy 2-1 in 3 sets in an exhibition game at Western Hall. Western Illinois will play two games at the Huskie Invitational before hosting the Hampton Inn Leatherneck Classic on September 6th and 7th at Western Hall.