By: Ryan Hartwig (@RyanHartwig)
GreenBayPhoenix.com
GREEN BAY, Wis. (GreenBayPhoenix.com) - Green Bay (14-12, 5-7 HL) started fast with a
lopsided victory in the opening set, but visiting UIC (17-12, 9-4 HL) bounced
back to take sets two through four, handing the Phoenix a 3-1 (12-25, 25-21,
25-23, 25-21) loss on Saturday afternoon at the Kress Center. Saturday also marked
Senior Day, as the Phoenix honored its senior class of 2012 consisting of Brittany Groth (Oak Creek, Wis.), Carmen Leitermann (Schofield, Wis.) and
Haley Oelke (Mosinee, Wis.).
Green Bay's Lyndsay Zabkowicz (Oak Creek, Wis.) led
all players with 22 kills on Saturday, tying her career high. The junior hit
.353 for the match, committing only four errors on 51 attempts. UIC had three
players reach double-digit kill totals, as Aubrey Sniegowski (14), Kelsey
Safranek (12) and Sara Sternard (11) each had 11 or more.
The Phoenix finished the
match with a .194 to .120 advantage in hitting percentage and a 55 to 52 edge
in kills. Both teams finished with 10 blocks apiece, while the Flames ended
with a slight advantage in digs (84-81).
Groth finished with a
match-high 28 digs in her final contest at the Kress Center. She now needs just
three more to pass former Phoenix standout Megan Elfering (1,789 from 2005-08)
as Green Bay's all-time digs leader.
Green Bay
picked up right where it left off on
Friday night against Loyola, rolling 25-12 in the opening set. Zabkowicz
led the way with eight kills as the Phoenix out-hit the Flames .324 to -.081. A
kill by Monica Anderson (Cottage
Grove, Wis.) forced a UIC timeout at 12-7, and back-to-back kills by Zabkowicz
and Taylor Kasal (Westmont, Ill.)
extended the Phoenix advantage to 19-10. Green Bay pushed the lead to 10
(21-11) with a UIC error, and a 4-0 run capped off by Zabkowicz's eighth kill
gave the Phoenix the 1-0 lead.
"We obviously
came out ready to play," Phoenix head coach
Debbie Kirch said. "We really carried the momentum over from last night. Defensively
we played another great match. I couldn't have asked for much more.
Offensively, we knew UIC was a good team and we would have to work hard for our
kills. We just lost patience at times and unfortunately that proved to be the
difference in each of the last three sets. I think we were expecting the rest
of the match to be like the first set, but UIC is just too good of a team."
The Flames
bounced back with a 25-21 win in set number two, evening the contest at 1-1. UIC
opened up a sizable lead in the third (17-11), but the Phoenix rallied back to
tie the score at 19-19. Green Bay battled down the stretch, as a Zabkowicz kill
got it to one at 24-23, but Sniegowski ended it with a kill at 25-23, giving
the visitors the 2-1 lead.
Set four was
similar, as the Flames led big (20-13) only to see the Phoenix mount a
comeback. Green Bay cut it to two at 21-19, forcing a timeout, but UIC held off
the Phoenix for the 25-21 win and the 3-1 victory.
Kirch and the
three seniors addressed the fans in a post-match ceremony, reliving moments
from the last four years and thanking those who helped them along the way.
"Senior Day is always
bittersweet," Kirch said. "It's a celebration of their careers, but at the same
time it's always hard being that it's the last home match for them. I'm proud
of all three seniors and the growth that they've made, not just on the court,
but in the classroom and as people. They've developed into wonderful young
ladies and I'm excited to see what their next step is in life."
Green Bay is
back in action next weekend for the final two matches of the regular season.
The Phoenix first heads to Wright State on Friday (6 p.m. CT) and then travels
to Valparaiso on Saturday (6 p.m. CT).
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