GREEN BAY, Wis.
(GreenBayPhoenix.com) - The Green Bay
volleyball team concluded its season-opening homestand against another
challenging opponent on Tuesday night, and the Phoenix (1-3) were on the short
end of a 3-0 (25-19, 25-20, 25-22) result against visiting Northern Illinois
(3-2) at the Kress Events Center.
Green Bay's first four opponents of the season
combined to win an impressive 102 matches in 2010, and NIU posted a 27-8 record
a season ago. The Huskies' two losses early in 2011 were both to ranked
opponents.
The Phoenix was tied or just a point down in each of
the three sets Tuesday, but the visiting Huskies used small runs in each to
take control, and eventually closed out the match with a 25-22 third-set win.
Three
early kills from senior Abbey Gitter
(Hortonville, Wis.) helped the Phoenix to a 10-10 tie, but a four-point run by
NIU a few points later made it 18-13 visitors. Gitter had four kills in the opening
set and finished with eight kills and a .375 hitting percentage for the match.
A
Carlie Willison (Greenfield, Wis.) kill midway through the second set made
the score 15 all, but another 4-0 spurt by NIU helped the Huskies take control
en route to the 25-20 set win. Junior libero Brittany Groth (Oak
Creek, Wis.) tried to keep the Phoenix close, tallying eight digs in the second
set alone on her way to a team-high 17 digs in the match.
It
was a similar story in the final set, with the Phoenix and Huskies tied at 13
halfway through the third. After NIU took a four-point lead (20-16), a 6-2
Phoenix run capped by a kill from junior Carmen
Leitermann (Schofield, Wis.) tied the
score at 22. Three-straight kills by the Phoenix ended the match.
Green
Bay held NIU sophomore Lauren Wicinski, the reigning Player of the Year and
Player of the Week in the Summit League, to a season-low nine kills, but both
Allison McGlaughlin (11) and Sarah Angelos (10) reached double figures.
Leitermann
matched Gitter with a team-high eight kills and also hit .375. Senior Kelly Mischler (Kaukauna, Wis.) was effective with her seven swings,
posting four kills and a .571 hitting percentage. Sophomore Leah Poel (Jenison, Mich.) tallied 28 assists directing the Phoenix
offense.
After
opening the season with the four challenging home matches, Green Bay will take
to the road for its next eight matches, beginning with this weekend's North
Dakota Invite. The Phoenix will play Southern Utah on Friday and North Dakota
and Montana on Saturday.
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Season tickets and Fall Sports Passes are now on sale
for volleyball as well as men's and women's soccer. Season tickets for each
sport are available for $25 each, or a Fall Sports Pass can be purchased for
admission to all three sports for just $50 for an adult and $25 for a youth
pass. For more information and an order form, click here.
