MADISON, Wis. (GreenBayPhoenix.com)
- Green Bay (3-9) fell
on the road Friday night to unbeaten Wisconsin (11-0), losing 25-9, 25-18,
25-20 in non-conference volleyball action. The match was the last of
12-straight away from home for the Phoenix, who will host Milwaukee Saturday at
7 p.m. in its home opener at the Kress Events Center.
In Friday's match, the Phoenix got off to a tough start
against its Big Ten foe before playing much better in the second and third
sets. Two freshmen came in to give the Phoenix a spark in sets two and three. Leah Van Zeeland (Kaukauna, Wis.)
tallied five sets while Leah Poel
(Jenison, Mich.) saw her first action of her collegiate career and had eight
assists.
"We had a miserable first set, but once we trusted our game
plan and executed it, we played much better," said head coach Debbie Kirch. "I
was proud of our composure in sets two and three. Wisconsin is the toughest
place we will play all season and we responded well."
Junior Abbey Gitter
(Hortonville, Wis.) led the Phoenix with seven kills while sophomore Carmen Leitermann (Schofield, Wis.) had
four kills and hit .571. Sophomore Brittany
Groth (Oak Creek, Wis.) and freshman
Kara Lindstedt (Shoreview, Minn.) had 15 and 11 digs respectively while
senior Whitney Schott (Roscoe, Ill.)
directed the offense with a team-high 14 assists.
In the third set, the Phoenix collected 14 kills with only
two attack errors and hit .375 as a team. For the match, Green Bay hit .128.
Fans will then have their first chance to see Green Bay play
at the Kress Events Center on Saturday as the Phoenix opens Horizon League play
against an in-state rival. Milwaukee enters the conference opener for both
teams at 3-7 on the season.
The last time Green Bay and Milwaukee met was in the Horizon
League Tournament a season ago, a five-set match won 3-2 by the Panthers.
Wisconsin def. Green Bay
25-9,25-18,25-20
Green Bay (3-9) (Kills-aces-blocks)
GITTER, Abbey 7-0-0;
VAN ZEELAND, Leah 5-0-0; LEITERMANN, Carmen 4-0-4; LINDSTEDT, Kara 4-0-0; WILLISON,
Carlie 3-0-2; MISCHLER, Kelly 3-0-0; SCHOTT, Whitney 2-0-0; Totals 28-0-5.0.
(Assists) - SCHOTT, Whitney 14. (Dig leaders) - GROTH, Brittany 15; LINDSTEDT,
Kara 11
Wisconsin (11-0) (Kills-aces-blocks)
Wack, Allison
11-2-2; Mikaelsen, Julie 8-0-2; Thompson, Dominique 7-0-4; Mitchell, Alexis 7-0-2;
Reshel, Bailey 5-0-1; Gabrielsen, Janelle 4-1-0; Benson, Jessa 3-0-0; Hickey,
Annemarie 2-0-0; Ording, Mary 1-0-0; Toon, Kirby 0-0-1; Maloney, Kelsey 0-0-1;
Kasha, Kelli 0-1-0; Totals 48-4-7.0. (Assists) - Gabrielsen, Janelle 23;
Benson, Jessa 12. (Dig leaders) - Kuzma, Kim 11; Gabrielsen, Janelle 10
