GREEN BAY, Wis. (GreenBayPhoenix.com)
- Down 7-2 and 10-4
in the decisive fifth set, senior Whitney
Schott (Roscoe, Ill.) refused to let Green Bay (6-11, 2-2 HL) lose Friday
night. With back-to-back kills, two service aces and a string of six-straight
points on her serve, Schott led the Phoenix to a remarkable comeback in a 3-2 (16-25,
25-23, 14-25, 25-18, 15-13) victory over visiting Loyola (7-8, 0-4 HL) in
Horizon League volleyball action.
Down 10-4 in the fifth set, Schott scored on a dump kill from
the setter position, and then the senior made undoubtedly the play of the match
to change the momentum completely. With the ball up in the air at the middle of
the net, the 5-foot-8 Schott out-jumped one of Loyola's tallest players and
slammed the ball to the other side for the point.
"Sometimes I forget how short I am when I am playing and that
point in particular I wanted it so bad that I thought I would throw my body up
there and go for it," said Schott. "I try not to think about the size of the
girl on the other side of the net because it is my height and I can't change
it. I just tried to be as big as I could."
Then, trailing 11-7, Schott went back to serve. Six points and
two aces later, Green Bay found themselves in front 13-11. She finished the
match with 43 assists, six kills and three service aces.
"If we want anybody back there serving, we want Whitney back
there," said head coach Debbie Kirch.
"She is a senior, she knew she had to serve aggressively with intelligence, and
there is nobody else that I would want back there serving in that situation."
Schott's strong play was not alone as junior Kelly Mischler (Kaukauna, Wis.) was also a highlight reel down the stretch.
Her block followed by back-to-back kills gave the Phoenix the lead 12-11.
Another kill broke a 13-13 tie before freshman Kara Lindstedt (Shoreview, Minn.) finished the match with a kill.
Mischler led the Phoenix with 11 kills while fellow junior Carlie Willison (Greenfield, Wis.)
added 10 and Lindstedt and sophomore Carmen
Leitermann (Schofield, Wis.) added nine and eight respectively.
"Kelly played absolutely fantastic tonight. I know I can
always be confident in her abilities, and tonight she really stepped up,"
Schott said. "I knew I could get the ball to her, I needed her and she came
through."
The match was in doubt for Green Bay on numerous occasions,
as the Phoenix fell behind by a set twice. Loyola came out swinging in set one,
getting six and five kills from Diana Schulte and Mallory Curran respectively
en route to a 25-16 set win and an early lead. Green Bay notched 14 kills and
hit .220, but the Ramblers' 18 kills and .444 hitting percentage were too much
to overcome.
Green Bay enacted some revenge in set two, using a Leitermann
kill to lead 13-7 and force the Ramblers to burn their second timeout. The lead
grew to as many as eight before the Ramblers rallied to tie the score at 21-21.
The teams traded points until 23-23, when kills by freshman Leah Van Zeeland (Kaukauna, Wis.) and Kara Lindstedt (Shoreview, Minn.) closed
it for the Phoenix.
The Phoenix used five service aces in the second set to
complement the team's 15 kills and .262 hitting percentage. Through two sets,
Lindstedt led Green Bay with seven kills while Willison had added six.
A slow start doomed the Phoenix in set three as the Ramblers
used 12 kills and six Phoenix attack errors to take control early and roll to a
25-14 win.
Just like in set two, Green Bay responded and scored five of
the first six points in set four. The team's fourth block of the set, from
newly-inserted freshman Lyndsay
Zabkowicz (Oak Creek, Wis.), increased the lead to 10-3. After the Ramblers
closed to four at 16-12, Zabkowicz and Mischler helped the Phoenix close out
the set, with each tallying two kills and a block the rest of the way. Schott
closed the set with a dump kill.
"Lyndsay really impressed me last night, not just on offense
but also the way she was moving confidently on the court," said Kirch. "Once we
needed some more offense on the outside, I had no hesitation going to her, and
she did a great job. I am proud of the way she responded."
The Phoenix had 11 blocks in the contest, led by three solo
blocks from Willison and four blocks from Leitermann. Sophomore Brittany Groth (Oak Creek, Wis.) had a
team-high 20 digs while Sabrina
Marunowski (Milwaukee, Wis.) and Lindstedt added 16 and 14 digs
respectively.
Green Bay completes its current three-game homestand Saturday,
hosting Valparaiso at 4 p.m.
Green Bay def. Loyola
16-25,25-23,14-25,25-18,15-13
Loyola (7-8, 0-4 HL)
(Kills-aces-blocks)
SCHULTE, Diana 18-0-3; CURRAN, Mallory 13-0-5; FRANCIS, Colleen 9-1-2;
HASTINGS, Melissa 8-0-3; NICKEL, Bridget 6-0-5; FIORE, Natalie 4-1-1; CARAJOHN,
Candice 1-0-0; HAGGENJOS, Kristen 0-2-0; LANGUIDO, Cat 0-2-0; Totals 59-6-10.0.
(Assists) - FIORE, Natalie 43. (Dig leaders) - LANGUIDO, Cat 22; FRANCIS,
Colleen 18; HASTINGS, Melissa 15
Green Bay (6-11, 2-2 HL)
(Kills-aces-blocks)
MISCHLER, Kelly 11-0-3; WILLISON, Carlie 10-1-3; LINDSTEDT, Kara 9-1-0;
LEITERMANN, Carmen 8-0-4; SCHOTT, Whitney 6-3-1; VAN ZEELAND, Leah 6-0-3;
ZABKOWICZ, Lyndsay 5-0-2; MARUNOWSKI, Sabrina 0-1-0; GROTH, Brittany 0-2-0; Totals
55-8-11.0. (Assists) - SCHOTT, Whitney 43. (Dig leaders) - GROTH, Brittany 20;
MARUNOWSKI, Sabrina 16; KORALEWSKI, Karli 14
