CHICAGO, Ill.
(GreenBayPhoenix.com) - Bouncing back
less than 24 hours after a tough loss Friday night, visiting Green Bay (9-18,
5-8 HL) pulled out three close sets in a 3-0 (26-24, 26-24, 25-21) sweep over Loyola
(9-16, 2-11 HL) Saturday afternoon on the road in Horizon League volleyball
action.
After a rough match Friday night, junior Carlie Willison (Greenfield, Wis.)
recovered in a big way Saturday, collecting nine kills with zero errors to help
the Phoenix to a .271 hitting percentage. Freshman Lyndsay Zabkowicz (Oak Creek, Wis.) and junior Abbey Gitter (Hortonville, Wis.) reached double figures in kills,
tallying 12 and 11 respectively.
"I am really proud of the way we rebounded after last
night," said head coach Debbie Kirch. "Loyola is not an easy team to play on
the road, but we kept our composure during their runs and played great defense.
Our defensive core came through for us tonight against a great offensive team."
Leading that Green Bay defense once again was
sophomore Brittany Groth (Oak Creek, Wis.), who collected 20 digs in the
three-set win. Freshman Sabrina
Marunowski (Milwaukee, Wis.) added 13 digs for the Phoenix.
The Green Bay offense, directed by senior Whitney Schott's (Roscoe, Ill.) 42
assists, had one of its strongest outings of the season with 47 kills and just
11 errors. The team's .271 hitting percentage was the fourth-highest for the
team this season.
Things did not look positive at the start, with Green
Bay falling behind 16-10 in the opening set. However, Groth had two service
aces in a 4-0 run and the Phoenix eventually tied the set at 19-19. The teams
traded points to remain tied at 24 before kills from Willison and Gitter closed
out the set for Green Bay.
The Phoenix was down in the second set as well,
trailing 20-17 before five-straight points on the serve of sophomore Carmen Leitermann (Schofield, Wis.).
Green Bay broke a 24-24 tie again with a Willison kill before claiming set two
on a Loyola attack error.
A tight third set saw the Phoenix score five of the
final six points to break a 20-20 tie, ultimately ending the match on a block
assist from junior Kelly Mischler
(Kaukauna, Wis.) and Schott. Tying Leitermann for team-high honors, Schott had
four blocks in the match.
Green Bay, in the midst of a four-match road trip,
will next hit the court on Nov. 5, playing at Butler at 7 p.m.
Green Bay def. Loyola 26-24, 26-24, 25-21
Green Bay (9-18, 5-8 HL) (Kills-aces-blocks)
ZABKOWICZ, Lyndsay 12-0-1; GITTER,
Abbey 11-1-0; WILLISON, Carlie 9-0-1; LEITERMANN, Carmen 9-0-4; SCHOTT, Whitney
3-1-4; MISCHLER, Kelly 2-0-1; KORALEWSKI, Karli 1-1-0; GROTH, Brittany 0-2-0;
BOHNEN, Alison 0-0-2; MARUNOWSKI, Sabrina 0-1-0; Totals 47-6-7.0. (Assists) -
SCHOTT, Whitney 42. (Dig leaders) - GROTH, Brittany 20; MARUNOWSKI, Sabrina 13
Loyola (9-16, 2-11 HL) (Kills-aces-blocks)
CURRAN, Mallory 14-1-5; FRANCIS,
Colleen 11-1-1; SCHULTE, Diana 8-0-2; HASTINGS, Melissa 8-0-2; FIORE, Natalie
3-0-1; CARAJOHN, Candice 2-0-1; HAGGENJOS, Kristen 0-1-0; LANGUIDO, Cat 0-1-0;
Totals 46-4-6.0. (Assists) - FIORE, Natalie 37. (Dig leaders) - FRANCIS,
Colleen 15; LANGUIDO, Cat 13; HAGGENJOS, Kristen 11; HASTINGS, Melissa 8
