By: Ryan Hartwig (@RyanHartwig)
GreenBayPhoenix.com
DAVIDSON, N.C. (GreenBayPhoenix.com) - The Green Bay volleyball team (6-5) picked up its second
sweep in as many matches at the Davidson Wildcat Classic, defeating High
Point 3-0 (25-23, 25-20, 25-17) Saturday morning at Belk Arena. The Phoenix aims
for the weekend sweep and tournament title this afternoon, taking on host Davidson
in the finale at 4 p.m. CT.
After starting the season
with a 1-3 record, the Phoenix is now over .500 for the first time in 2012. Green
Bay has won five of its last seven matches, including four of its last five and
each of its last three. In addition, the win over High Point (9-5) moves the
Phoenix to 5-0 in neutral-site contests.
"It was a good three-set
win for us this morning against a strong High Point team," head coach Debbie Kirch said. "They have a very
fast offense, which we were able to slow down with our serve and block. I
thought our hitters also did well against a good defensive team. Now the goal
is to finish strong this afternoon against Davidson and take the tournament
title."
Green Bay finished with
the advantage in nearly every statistical category, out-doing the Panthers in
hitting percentage (.281-.177), kills (47-36), assists (43-34), digs (54-46)
and service aces (4-1).
The Phoenix got another
big match from junior Leah Van Zeeland
(Kaukauna, Wis.), who reached double-digit kills for the fifth straight contest
and registered her fifth double-double of the year with 13 kills and 12 digs.
Classmate Monica Anderson (Cottage Grove,
Wis.) also reached double-figures in kills, tallying 11. Junior Leah Poel (Jenison, Mich.) finished
with a match-high 36 assists - tying her best three-set total of the season - and
senior Brittany Groth (Oak Creek,
Wis.) paced all players with 19 digs.
Green Bay trailed 14-11 midway
through the first set, but rallied to take a 20-17 lead following a kill by
Anderson, forcing a High Point timeout. The Panthers fought back, however,
knotting the score at 20-20, and the two squads traded points until it was 23
all. A Van Zeeland kill gave the Phoenix a set point chance, and an attack
error by HPU ended it 25-23, giving Green Bay the 1-0 lead.
The Phoenix built an 18-11
cushion in the second after back-to-back kills by Anderson and Van Zeeland, and
was able to hold off the Panthers down the stretch for the 25-20 victory.
Junior Lyndsay Zabkowicz (Oak Creek,
Wis.) had a strong second set, recording four of her nine kills.
The third set saw Green
Bay open up a 13-5 lead and never look back. One of Carmen Leitermann's (Schofield, Wis.) five kills made it 22-14, and
the Phoenix closed it out 25-17 to secure the sweep.
Live
stats and live video will be available for Green Bay's match against
Davidson this afternoon at 4 p.m. CT. It will be the final contest of Green Bay's
nine-match road trip before the team opens Horizon League play at home against
Cleveland State next Friday.
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