CHICAGO, Ill. (GreenBayPhoenix.com) - Despite playing without both of its co-captains, visiting
Green Bay (6-13, 2-4 HL) battled UIC (9-9, 4-4 HL) tough on the road Wednesday
night before falling in a thrilling five-set match (21-25, 25-20, 25-14, 20-25,
17-15) in Horizon League volleyball action.
Senior
setter Whitney Schott (Roscoe, Ill.)
and junior Carlie Willison (Greenfield,
Wis.) both missed the match due to injuries, leaving the Phoenix and head coach
Debbie Kirch without their
co-captains. Despite the absence of the two starters, Green Bay still rallied
back from down two sets to one and had match point on two occasions in the
fifth set.
After
a 25-20 victory in set four forced the decisive fifth set, Green Bay fell
behind 10-4. After rallying to tie the set at 12, the Phoenix gained its first
match point on a kill by freshman Kara
Lindstedt (Shoreview, Minn.) to make the score 14-13. UIC tied the
score, but a kill by Carmen Leitermann
(Schofield, Wis.) left the visitors with another match point. However, a
service error followed and the Flames closed out the match with back-to-back
points.
"I
was proud of the way we fought back after being down 2-1," said Kirch. "We
showed a lot of heart to turn things around. To have match point and not finish
the match was disappointing, and that is something we have to figure out."
Filling
in for Schott, freshman Leah Poel
(Jenison, Mich.) played solidly, registering a Green Bay season-high 57 assists
in the match while directing the Phoenix to 69 kills and a .200 hitting
percentage. She helped four players to double-digit kill totals, led by
Leitermann's 16 kills. Freshman Lyndsay
Zabkowicz (Oak Creek, Wis.) and junior Kelly
Mischler (Kaukauna, Wis.) each
tallied 14 kills while junior Abbey Gitter
(Hortonville, Wis.) notched 13.
The
Phoenix jumped out to an early 1-0 lead with a victory in set one. After the
set was tied at 20-20, kills by Zabkowicz, Gitter and Mischler sparked the
Phoenix to a 25-21 win.
After
dropping the next two sets, Green Bay rallied to force the fifth set with a
25-20 win in set four. Five kills apiece from Gitter and Leitermann helped the
Phoenix rally from an early 4-0 deficit and then pull away late from an 18-18
tie.
Sophomore
Brittany Groth (Oak Creek, Wis.) led
the defensive with a game-high 24 digs while Leitermann registered a team-high
four blocks.
After
the brief road trip, Green Bay returns home to the Kress Center for a pair of
matches this weekend, hosting Wright State Saturday at 4 p.m. and Butler Sunday
at 2 p.m.
UIC def. Green Bay 21-25, 25-20, 25-14, 20-25, 17-15
Green Bay (6-13, 2-4 HL) (Kills-aces-blocks)
LEITERMANN,
Carmen 16-1-4; ZABKOWICZ, Lyndsay 14-0-0; MISCHLER, Kelly 14-0-3; GITTER, Abbey
13-0-2; LINDSTEDT, Kara 6-1-1; POEL, Leah 3-1-3; VAN ZEELAND, Leah 3-0-0;
KORALEWSKI, Karli 0-1-0; Totals 69-4-7.0. (Assists) - POEL, Leah 57. (Dig
leaders) - GROTH, Brittany 24; LINDSTEDT, Kara 12; KORALEWSKI, Karli 11;
MARUNOWSKI, Sabrina 11; POEL, Leah 9
UIC (9-9, 4-4 HL) (Kills-aces-blocks)
SAFRANEK, Kelsey
14-0-1; DISMUKE, Janise 13-0-4; SNIEGOWSKI, Aubrey 13-0-2; DAVIS, Epiphany 8-0-6;
SULLIVAN, Casie 7-2-2; DALKE, Jessica 2-2-1; SZATKOWSKI, Taylor 0-1-0; IMRIE,
MaryKate 0-3-0; Totals 57-8-11.0. (Assists) - DALKE, Jessica 49. (Dig leaders)
- DALKE, Jessica 20; GARCIA, Justine 17; SULLIVAN, Casie 10; SAFRANEK, Kelsey
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