University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee Women's Volleyball

MKE Head Coaching Record Years: 19 (2007-pres.) Overall: 316-245 (.563) Conference: 207-99 (.676) MKE Coaching Record Years: 29 (1997-pres.) Overall: 542-315 (.632) Conference: 325-113 (.742) NCAA Appearances (10) 2013, 2011, 2009, 2008, 2006 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999, 1998 20-Win Seasons (17) 2023, 2024 2021, 2019, 2011, 2010, 2008 2007, 2006, 2005, 2003, 2002 2001, 2000, 1999, 1998, 1997 Regular Season Titles (14) 2021, 2013, 2011, 2010 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004 2003, 2000, 1999, 1998, 1997 Coach of the Year Awards (5) 2013, 2011, 2010, 2008, 2007 Records Through 2025 Season Susie Johnson enters her 30th overall season with the Milwaukee volleyball program and her 20th season as head coach entering the 2026 season. Johnson was named head coach in May of 2007 after 10 years as an assistant and associate head coach at Milwaukee. Since taking over the reins, Johnson has led Milwaukee to 316 wins, six regular-season titles, four league-tournament crowns, and four NCAA Tournament berths.   In her 29 total seasons at Milwaukee, the Panthers have compiled a 542-315 record. That number includes a 325-113 mark in league play and a 266-83 record at the Klotsche Center. The Panthers have also won 180 of their 217 league matches at home with Johnson on the bench. In 2025, Milwaukee posted an 11-7 Horizon League record and tied for third in the regular-season standings. The Panthers earned the fifth seed in the Horizon League Championship and fell to fourth-seeded IU Indy in the league quarterfinals. Kara Erdmann earned her second consecutive All-League First Team honor after finishing the season 10th in all of Division I with 5.12 digs per set and 20th nationally in total digs (543). Josie Noble was named to both the All-League Second Team and the All-Freshman Team following an impressive rookie campaign that saw her finish second in the league with 1.15 blocks per set, while also ranking among the league leaders in hitting percentage, kills, and points. Additionally, Erdmann, along with Kati Goba, Bella Lipski, and Natalie Schmitz, were all named to the Horizon League All-Academic Team. Erdmann and Schmitz were joined by Josie Johnson as recipients of Academic All-District honors, as announced by College Sports Communicators. In all, players have earned all-league honors 73 times under Johnson and the recognition for Panther players has extended far beyond the Horizon League. With Johnson's assistance, MKE players have earned AVCA All-America honors ten times and AVCA All-Region honors 23 times. Plus, three Panthers have earned AVCA Region Freshman of the Year accolades, including Rachel Neuberger and Kayla Price. The 2024 season saw Milwaukee finish the regular season with 20 wins, including a 15-3 record in Horizon League matches. The Panthers finished the season second in the standings and earned a bye into the league semifinals. Kara Erdmann was named an AVCA All-Region Selection following her Horizon League First Team honor, while she was also named the league’s Defensive Player of the Year. Milwaukee finished in a tie for second place in the Horizon League standings following the 2023 regular season, clinching the third seed in postseason play as the Panthers returned to form with a 21-win campaign, which included the program's first-ever win over Northwestern, and the team's first win over a Big Ten opponent since the 2003 season. With half of the roster new to the Milwaukee program in 2022, the Panthers mustered 10 wins while battling through a challenging non-conference slate that included five teams that were ranked by the AVCA, including No. 11 Purdue, who was the highest ranked opponent for a Panther squad since December of 2013. It was another 20-win season for MKE in 2021 as Johnson led the Panthers to a 22-9 overall mark, going 16-2 in Horizon League play and claiming the Horizon League regular season title. Three Panthers earned major awards including Ari Miller who was named Horizon League Player of the Year and Offensive Player of the Year. Miller was also named AVCA Honorable Mention All-America, Milwaukee's first since 2011. Rylie Vaughn capped her career with a Setter of the Year honor and Malone was named Freshman of the Year.    Johnson proved doubters wrong in 2019, leading the Panthers to 26 victories, matching the most for Milwaukee since joining NCAA Division I in 1990. The Panthers finished a plus 18-win differential from the prior season, the best in the nation. MKE went 12-4 in Horizon League action and 12-1 at home in Johnson’s 14th 20-win season. Under her guidance, a trio of Panthers earned All-League honors including Miller who was named Freshman of the Year, the program’s first since 2016.   Not only were the Panthers one of the best teams in the Horizon League, but they also put up numbers that competed with the best in the country. Milwaukee led the league in hitting percentage (.239), kills per set (14.34), and assists per set (13.46). Milwaukee’s kills per set (14th), assists per set (10th), and digs per set (22nd) all ranked in the nation’s top-25.   From 2016-18, Johnson had one of the youngest rosters not only in the Horizon League, but also in the nation. Never one for excuses, Johnson still coached her young squads to a combined 35 wins over that span. Despite their youth, Johnson again also helped her players reach an impressive number of accolades, earning a total of eight league honors, including three named to the all-freshman team and the Horizon League Freshman of the Year in 2016.   In 2014, Johnson led her team to a second-place finish in the regular season despite a slew of injuries and challenges. The Panthers made it all the way to the Horizon League Tournament Championship match before coming up just short of its fifth NCAA Tournament bid with Johnson at the helm.   That came on the heels of a very impressive 2013 campaign in which Johnson was named coach of the year for the fifth time overall. She led the Panthers on the path to a remarkable turnaround, going from an injury-plagued, seventh-place finish in 2012 to a ninth regular-season title in 11 years.   Her overall run has included the first undefeated Horizon League season in 17 years, a school-record 18-match winning streak and the program's best-ever NCAA Tournament performance - a heartbreaking five-set loss to Dayton in 2009.   In 2011, the Panthers went 25-5 overall and 16-0 in league play, becoming the first Horizon League team to go through the league schedule without a loss since Notre Dame did it in 1994. Milwaukee also set a school record with 18 straight wins and nearly upset Iowa State in the first round of the postseason.   One season earlier, she led the Panthers to a 15-1 league mark and an 11-match winning streak. Milwaukee started the season 3-7 against a difficult non-league schedule but then won 17 of 19 matches after that, capturing the league crown.   In 2009, she directed her team to another 11-match winning streak. The first eight wins helped her team move from eighth to third in the league standings before three more wins in the league tournament helped her squad to the title and an eighth NCAA Tournament berth.   In 2008, Johnson directed a squad that included 12 freshmen and sophomores to the top of the league standings. Milwaukee also beat then-No.18 Iowa State during non-league play and claimed the Horizon League Tournament title and automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament. During her first season as head coach, Johnson led the Panthers to a school-record 26 wins and a fifth-straight Horizon League regular season title. MKE also put together winning streaks of 14 and 12 matches.     Johnson's efforts on the recruiting trail have led to nine league newcomers of the year during her tenure, including Malone in 2022, Bridget Wallenberger in 2016, and Neuberger in 2009. Plus, 25 Panther players have earned a spot on the league's all-newcomer team in the last 25 years. Panther players have then consistently developed into the best players in the Horizon League. In her 26 seasons in Milwaukee, Johnson has coached 11 League Players of the Year, with Kerri Schuh winning the award twice and Neuberger claiming the distinction in 2013.   Johnson's playing background is at setter, where she earned All-Big Sky and All-Northwest Region honors at Idaho State. She was also a two-time Academic All-Big Sky honoree and has helped direct the Panthers to great success in the classroom, with two Academic All-Americans and a team GPA above 3.3.   A native of Racine, Johnson joined the Panther staff after serving as an assistant coach at Indiana State. She also worked at Idaho State and was head coach at UW-Parkside. She lives in Racine with her husband, C.J., son Ty, daughter Josie, and stepson Brody.

Lindsey Vanden Berg '03 is starting her 20th season in 2026 as the top assistant for the Panther volleyball program after spending two seasons as the program's director of operations. In her role, Vanden Berg serves as the recruiting coordinator and responsible for training the setters. Since joining the staff, 11 student-athletes have earned AVCA All-Region honors. In addition, six Horizon League Players of the Year, 49 All-League selections, six League Freshmen of the Year, 18 All-Freshman Team honorees, and two League Defensive Players of the Year have been recognized, while three student-athletes have earned Academic All-America honors.   Vanden Berg, formerly Lindsey Spoden, was a standout player for the Panthers from 2000-03, becoming the first-ever Milwaukee player to earn Division I All-America honors. Her play on the court during her time as a Panther has earned her a spot in the Bud K. Haidet Milwaukee Athletics Hall of Fame, inducted in 2021.   A four-time All-Horizon League honoree, Vanden Berg was the American Volleyball Coaches' Association Midwest Region Freshman of the Year in 2000 and an honorable mention AVCA All-American in 2003. She also earned all-region honors twice and was the co-player of the year in the Horizon League in 2003.   Vanden Berg is Milwaukee’s all-time career leader with 169 service aces and is second in school history in assists with 5,233 to her credit. Vanden Berg also ended her career in the top-10 in digs with 1,204 in her 120 career matches played. She helped the Panthers to three NCAA Tournament berths and a pair of league titles during her four-year career.   In her coaching role, Vanden Berg has taken on more on-court responsibilities while also working extensively on the Panthers' recruiting efforts. Vanden Berg started her coaching career by working with the Milwaukee Sting Volleyball Club before returning to MKE in 2005.   A native of Alexandria, Minn., she married former Panthers' baseball player John Vanden Berg in the summer of 2007. The couple has a daughter, Brooke, and son, Cole.  

Katie Adams enters her third season as an assistant coach with the Panthers in 2026. Since joining the staff, one student-athlete has earned AVCA All-Region honors. In addition, six student-athletes have received Horizon League All-League recognition, while a combined 15 student-athletes have been recognized with Academic All-League and Academic All-District honors. Adams joined the Milwaukee staff after serving in the same capacity at Green Bay for the previous two seasons. While with the Phoenix, Adams helped lead the team to 39 victories including 26 Horizon League wins, finishing as the third seed in 2022 and tied for a second seed with Milwaukee in 2023. Before her stop in Green Bay, Adams coached at Indiana State from 2020 through 2021, helping the team to improve from seven wins during her COVID-shortened first season with the Sycamores to 18 in year two. The 18-win season was Indiana State's highest win total since the team had 18 wins in 1983. A one-year stop at Blinn College in Brenham, Texas preceded her time at Indiana State, where Adams assisted in guiding the team to a 29-win campaign and qualifying for the National Junior College Athletic Association Region XIV Tournament. Adams was a four-year student-athlete at Parkside, where she played as a setter and right side, tallying 1,735 assists in her career including 1,070 as a junior. She also added 638 kills and 619 digs, while tallying 170 career blocks, and 29 service aces during her career. Her awards included being selected as the Female Student-Athlete of the Year as both a junior and a senior, while also being recognized by the GLIAC on the All-Conference Honorable Mention listing as a senior. Away from volleyball, she also participated on the track & field team at Parkside as a senior and threw javelin, setting the program record with a throw of 35.67 meters. A native of Racine, Wisconsin, Adams graduated from Horlick High School, and was a two-time First-Team All-Conference selection. She also earned All-State Honorable Mention status as a senior and played club volleyball for the Wisconsin Juniors.