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Balanced Attack, Defense Helps Phoenix to Road Win

Women's Volleyball Green Bay Athletics

Balanced Attack, Defense Helps Phoenix to Road Win

DAYTON, Ohio (GreenBayPhoenix.com) - Senior Abbey Gitter (Hortonville, Wis.) had 13 kills and two Phoenix players had double-doubles as visiting Green Bay (8-11, 4-3 HL) defeated Wright State (2-17, 1-6 HL) 3-1 (23-25, 25-14, 25-17, 25-15) in Horizon League volleyball action Saturday afternoon. Gitter did not commit an error in 27 swings en route to a hitting percentage of .481.

"It is always tough to win on the road in league play, and we got off to a slow start today," said head coach Debbie Kirch. "I was proud of the way we bounced back and recovered so well."

Sophomores Leah Poel (Jenison, Mich.) and Lyndsay Zabkowicz (Oak Creek, Wis.) had double-doubles for the Phoenix as the visitors had four players with double-digit dig totals. Poel finished with 42 assists and 11 digs while Zabkowicz tallied 12 kills and 15 digs. Junior Brittany Groth (Oak Creek, Wis.) had a match-high 26 digs while sophomore Sabrina Marunowski (Milwaukee, Wis.) added 11.  

After dropping the opening set, Green Bay dominated set number two. An 8-2 run early turned a 7-7 tie into a 15-9 Phoenix lead, and Green Bay built its lead from there before closing out the set, 25-14.

Set three was tied at 11-11 before the Phoenix scored 11-straight points, including 10 in a row on the serve of Groth, to lead 22-11. The Phoenix eventually closed out the set 25-17 on a kill from junior Carmen Leitermann (Schofield, Wis.).

Another spurt off the serve of Groth helped Green Bay jump out to a 6-1 lead in the fourth set. After the Raiders closed to 9-7, Green Bay scored the next nine points, including eight on Poel's serve, to move ahead 18-7. Green Bay ended the match on back-to-back kills from Leitermann and Poel.

The Phoenix had just one team block in the opening set, but had nine in the final three sets while holding WSU to a hitting percentage of just .087. Senior Kelly Mischler (Kaukauna, Wis.) continued her strong defensive week with six more blocks to lead Green Bay.

Led by Gitter, the Green Bay offense hit .259, its second-highest total in league play. Fellow senior Carlie Willison (Greenfield, Wis.) had just one error and tallied nine kills while hitting .309. Leitermann added eight kills for the Phoenix.

"When our offense was clicking, it looked great," said Kirch. "Leah Poel did an excellent job of moving the ball around, and you could see that with our balance and hitting percentage."

Green Bay closes out the first half of its Horizon League schedule on Sunday, playing at Butler at 3 p.m. Fans can watch the match and follow live stats by clicking here.

Green Bay (8-11, 4-3 Horizon)
GITTER, Abbey  13-0-5; ZABKOWICZ, Lyndsay 12-1-2; WILLISON, Carlie 9-0-3; LEITERMANN, Carmen 8-0-3; MISCHLER, Kelly 5-0-6; POEL, Leah 3-0-1; GROTH, Brittany 0-2-0; Totals 50-3-10.5. (Assists) - POEL, Leah 42. (Dig leaders) - GROTH, Brittany 26; ZABKOWICZ, Lyndsay 15; POEL, Leah 11; MARUNOWSKI, Sabrina 11

Wright State (2-17, 1-6 Horizon)
SPLINTER, Heidi 14-1-1; BRANCO, Dani 13-1-1; McAULEY, Alaina 4-1-1; LANGJAHR, Ashley 4-1-2; SCHUBERT, Aimee 3-1-0; NUSSBAUM, Mariah 3-0-2; NORMAN, Anna 1-0-0; Totals 42-5-4.0. (Assists) - SCHUBERT, Aimee 35. (Dig leaders) - SPLINTER, Heidi 15; LEVY, Jessica 13; SCHUBERT, Aimee 12; BRANCO, Dani 10; McAULEY, Alaina 9

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Players Mentioned

Abbey Gitter

#3 Abbey Gitter

RS
5' 11"
Sophomore
Brittany Groth

#10 Brittany Groth

OH
5' 9"
Freshman
Carlie Willison

#8 Carlie Willison

OH
6' 0"
Sophomore
Carmen Leitermann

#9 Carmen Leitermann

MB
6' 2"
Freshman
Sabrina Marunowski

#13 Sabrina Marunowski

LIB
5' 5"
Freshman
Leah Poel

#7 Leah Poel

S
6' 0"
Freshman
Lyndsay Zabkowicz

#14 Lyndsay Zabkowicz

OH
6' 0"
Freshman

Players Mentioned

Abbey Gitter

#3 Abbey Gitter

5' 11"
Sophomore
RS
Brittany Groth

#10 Brittany Groth

5' 9"
Freshman
OH
Carlie Willison

#8 Carlie Willison

6' 0"
Sophomore
OH
Carmen Leitermann

#9 Carmen Leitermann

6' 2"
Freshman
MB
Sabrina Marunowski

#13 Sabrina Marunowski

5' 5"
Freshman
LIB
Leah Poel

#7 Leah Poel

6' 0"
Freshman
S
Lyndsay Zabkowicz

#14 Lyndsay Zabkowicz

6' 0"
Freshman
OH