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
