CLEVELAND, Ohio (GreenBayPhoenix.com) - The Green Bay volleyball team got off to a strong start Saturday against Cleveland State, but it wasn't enough as the Phoenix fell 3-1 (25-21, 24-26, 14-25, 15-25) to the defending Horizon League champions at Woodling Gym. The Vikings improve to 11-1 (2-1 Horizon League) with the win, while Green Bay falls to 4-11 (1-2 Horizon League).

"We played extremely well for a set and a half," Green Bay head coach Debbie Kirch said. "We were able to force Cleveland State to make lineup changes but unfortunately we were unable to capitalize on them. We just weren't able to execute in the final two sets the way we did in the first two. We just have to work on being able to execute for an entire match."

The first set was a back-and-forth battle that featured 13 ties and five lead changes. With the score knotted at 19, the Phoenix took the next two points to take a 21-19 lead. The teams traded points down the stretch as Green Bay prevailed 25-21.

With the score tied at 12 in the second set, Green Bay rattled off the next four points to take a 16-12 lead. The Phoenix threatened to take a 2-0 advantage, holding a 22-17 lead before Cleveland State battled back to knot the score at 24-24. The Vikings then scored two unanswered for the win.

Cleveland State never looked back after set number two, as the Phoenix only held one lead over the final two sets.

Freshman Leah Van Zeeland (Kaukauna, Wis.) led the Phoenix with 11 kills, while sophomore Carmen Leitermann (Schofield, Wis.) added 10. Senior setter Whitney Schott (Roscoe, Ill.) doled out 34 assists in the loss.

Green Bay is next in action on Thursday, Sept. 30 when it begins a three-game home stand against Chicago State. The Phoenix has played 14 of its first 15 games in 2010 on the road.