GREEN BAY, Wis.
(GreenBayPhoenix.com) - Senior Kelly Mischler (Kaukauna, Wis.) backed up her school-record block effort
from Tuesday night with eight more blocks on Wednesday, helping Green Bay
(7-11, 3-3 HL) sweep Youngstown State (2-16, 1-5 HL) in Horizon League
volleyball action at the Kress Events Center. Led by Mischler, the Phoenix
defense had 13.0 team blocks and held the Penguins to a -.010 hitting
percentage.
Mischler tied a school record for blocks in a
three-set match in Tuesday's loss to Cleveland State. Her effort on Wednesday was
just one shy of that total, and the senior added a hitting percentage of .800 with
four kills on five swings.
"With Kelly, blocking is something that we have really
focused on lately," said head coach Debbie
Kirch. "She has always been an offensive middle for us, but we felt she was
capable of giving us this defensively. To her credit, she had been working
extra and watching a lot of tape, and she played outstanding in these two
matches. It is definitely something that we needed. Offensively, she did not
get a lot of kills, but she took advantage of her opportunities."
Green Bay had six different players with at least one
block assist and also got strong defense from its back row. Junior libero Brittany Groth (Oak Creek, Wis.) had a
match-high 16 digs while defensive specialists Sabrina Marunowski
(Milwaukee, Wis.) and Haley Oelke
(Mosinee, Wis.) added 11 and six, respectively.
Senior Carlie Willison (Greenfield, Wis.) led the Phoenix with 12 kills while sophomore Lyndsay Zabkowicz (Oak Creek, Wis.)
added seven. Sophomore setter Leah Poel (Jenison, Mich.) had 28 assists
directing the offense.
Green Bay finished with 31 kills and a .167 hitting
percentage. In hitting just -.010, the Penguins totaled 28 kills and 29 errors.
"Youngstown was coming off a big win last night, and I
think they had a lot of confidence coming in here. I felt it was important for
us to win in three. It is a challenging week for us, and if you can finish a
team you have to do it. Hopefully we can build off this as we head on the road.
It is a big week for us because we have an opportunity to finish the first half
of league play above .500. We just need to take one match at a time."
The
Phoenix will take Thursday off before practicing and traveling to Dayton, Ohio
on Friday. Green Bay will conclude the first half of its Horizon League
schedule with matches at Wright State Saturday at 1 p.m. and Butler Sunday at 3
p.m.
