GREEN BAY, Wis. (GreenBayPhoenix.com) - Green Bay (1-2) battled in a pair of matches Saturday at the Kress Events Center, but the Phoenix were unable to pull out victories in close losses to North Dakota (1-2) and No. 19 Dayton (3-0) as the season-opening Green Bay/Country Inn & Suites Tournament concluded. An NCAA Tournament team last season, nationally-ranked Dayton claimed the tournament title with a sweep of its three matches.
Dayton's Megan Campbell was named the tournament's MVP while teammates Yvonne Marten and Rachel Krabacher headlined the all-tournament team. Green Bay's Carmen Leitermann (Schofield, Wis.) and Carlie Willison (Greenfield, Wis.), James Madison's Holly Wall and North Dakota's Lisa Parlich also earned all-tournament honors.
Green Bay opened Saturday with a five-set loss to North Dakota (25-23, 25-17, 11-25, 19-25, 15-8) before falling to Dayton in four sets (25-19, 15-25, 25-19, 25-23). The Phoenix held a 23-19 lead in set four against the Flyers before Dayton rattled off the final six points to claim the match.
"It's disappointing to come out of the weekend 1-2 because our expectations are higher than that, but I do feel we improved with each match," head coach Debbie Kirch said. "After the North Dakota match, we talked about being ready to play when the first whistle blows, getting off to a better starts and I felt we did that against Dayton. Now we have to learn how to finish sets."
North Dakota 3, Green Bay 2
For the second-straight match, Green Bay got off to a slow start and went into the break in a two-set hole. However, like it did in a 3-2 win over James Madison on Friday night, the Phoenix played a dominant third set.
In winning 25-11, Green Bay posted 19 kills and hit an impressive .357, with Leitermann alone having eight kills and sophomore setter Leah Poel (Jenison, Mich.) tallying 15 assists.
Using a string of five-straight points midway through the fourth set, Green Bay turned a 13-13 tie into a comfortable lead and took the set 25-19. The Phoenix had 14 kills and three errors in the set, with sophomore Leah Van Zeeland (Kaukauna, Wis.) totaling four kills on six swings.
Leitermann was a force for the Phoenix against North Dakota, hitting a staggering .556 with 15 kills and zero errors on 27 swings. She was the lone player with double-digit kills for the Phoenix, who also got nine kills apiece from Willison, Van Zeeland and Kelly Mischler (Kaukauna, Wis.). Mischler also had six blocks for the Phoenix.
Poel had 48 assists directing the offense while Willison and Brittany Groth (Oak Creek, Wis.) had 17 and 14 digs respectively to lead the Green Bay defense. Sophomore Kara Lindstedt (Shoreview, Minn.) added a career-high six service aces.
No. 19 Dayton 3, Green Bay 1
Green Bay got off to its best start of the weekend against the nationally-ranked Flyers and led set one 13-12 midway through. Dayton took control with five-straight points to lead 17-13 and finished off the set 25-19.
However, the Phoenix bounced back with an impressive set two to even the match heading to the intermission. Five different players had kills early as Green Bay built a 10-4 lead, and the hosts gradually built their lead. Three kills from senior Abbey Gitter (Hortonville, Wis.) in the final five points ended it at 25-15. Gitter had five kills in seven swings and the Phoenix tallied 17 kills and just two errors in the set to hit .405.
After dropping the third set 25-19, Green Bay looked primed to force a fifth and final set by taking control of the fourth set midway through. Five-straight points made it 15-11 Phoenix, and a Leitermann block increased the lead to five at one point late (21-16).
The margin was still four after a Dayton service error gave the Phoenix a 23-19 edge, but the Flyers scored the final six points to close out the win in four sets.
Green Bay used strong back row defense and 9.0 blocks to hold the Flyers to a hitting percentage of just .184, easily Dayton's lowest of the weekend. Groth had a season-high 25 digs while Willison added 22 while Leitermann had six blocks. Poel had 37 assists for Green Bay's offense, which had double-digit kill performances from Gitter (13), sophomore Monica Anderson (11) and Willison (10).
"I was proud of how we executed against Dayton," Kirch said. "We specifically talked about the areas we needed to improve on and we did that. Our defense was outstanding, and I also felt our outside hitters, both Carlie and Monica, swung extremely aggressively against one of the biggest blocks we have faced. Our hitters didn't get frustrated and that was a big difference for us from Friday to Saturday."
Green Bay continues its season-opening homestand on Tuesday, welcoming Northern Illinois to the Kress Center for a 7 p.m. match.
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