GREEN BAY, Wis.
(GreenBayPhoenix.com) - Senior Kelly Mischler (Kaukauna, Wis.) tied a school-record for blocks in a
three-set match with nine, but Green Bay (6-11, 2-3 HL) got off to a slow start
Tuesday evening against visiting Cleveland State (11-5, 4-1 HL) and never fully
recovered as the Vikings posted a 3-0 (25-19, 25-18, 25-23) win in Horizon
League volleyball action at the Kress Events Center.
Junior Brittany Groth (Oak Creek, Wis.) had 11 of
her match-high 19 digs in the opening set for the Phoenix as Cleveland State
was held to a .214 hitting percentage, but Green Bay had eight errors as the Vikings
opened with the early lead.
Groth bumped her digs per set number for the season to
5.14 as the junior libero maintained the Horizon League lead in digs. She now
has 851 for her career, including 845 in the past two seasons.
CSU again jumped out early in the second set as well,
and despite Green Bay closing to 14-12 on back-to-back kills from Lyndsay Zabkowicz (Oak Creek, Wis.), the Vikings kept the lead and pulled
away for the set win. The Phoenix hit .308 in the set, but the Vikings hit a
staggering .419 with 17 kills and four errors.
In what looked like it would be an easy third set for
visiting Cleveland State, the Vikings jumped out to a 21-13 lead. However, on the
strength of five blocks, the Phoenix won 10 of the next 12 points and tied the
set at 23-23 on the ninth block of the match from Mischler.
Mischler's nine blocks were one of the bright spots in
the loss as the total tied a school record for blocks in a three-set match. The
record is held by four other players, but the total has not been equaled since Angie
Rowley had nine blocks against Northeastern Illinois on Aug. 31, 1997. Green
Bay had eight of its 11.0 team blocks in the third set.
Sophomore Leah Poel (Jenison, Mich.) totaled 28
assists in the match directing the Phoenix offense. Junior Carmen Leitermann
(Schofield, Wis.) had a team-high eight kills while senior Carlie Willison
(Greenfield, Wis.) added seven.
Green
Bay will have a quick turnaround before returning to the court on Wednesday
evening at 7 p.m. The Phoenix will host Youngstown State, who notched its first
Horizon League match on Tuesday at Loyola.
Wednesday's match will feature numerous promotions in conjunction with The Bar and Breast Cancer Awareness Month. For more information, click here.
