By: Ryan Hartwig (@RyanHartwig)
GreenBayPhoenix.com
DAVIDSON, N.C. (GreenBayPhoenix.com) - The Green Bay volleyball team (7-5) continued its
winning ways on Saturday night, defeating Davidson 3-2 in the Wildcat Classic
finale to claim the tournament title and extend its winning streak to four
matches.
The Phoenix, winners of
five of the last six, went 3-0 at Belk Arena over the weekend, beating
NC Central (3-0) on Friday and High
Point (3-0) on Saturday morning before completing the weekend sweep against
the Wildcats.
Green Bay grabbed a convincing
2-0 lead over the Davidson to start, but the hosts rallied to tie the match at
two sets apiece. The Phoenix was able to hold off the comeback, however,
scoring the final four points in the fifth set to secure the 25-11, 32-30,
14-25, 22-25, 15-11 victory and take home the hardware.
"We came out really strong
tonight, and after we came back to win set two I felt like we were in position
to win in three," Phoenix head coach Debbie Kirch said. "Davidson was not going to let that happen. They played amazing
defense and frustrated our hitters. I was really proud of how we responded in
set five. It shows how much winning the tournament meant to us."
Leah Poel
(Jenison, Mich.) earned tournament MVP honors, capping off an outstanding weekend
with a season-high 59 assists against the Wildcats. The junior finished with
121 assists in just 10 sets played on the weekend, averaging 12.1 per set. Joining
Poel on the All-Tournament Team were teammates Leah Van Zeeland (Kaukauna, Wis.) and Monica Anderson (Cottage Grove, Wis.). Van Zeeland had 34 kills and
38 digs in the three matches, while Anderson led the Phoenix with 41 kills.
Anderson led all players with
a career-high 22 kills against the Wildcats, hitting .340 for the match. Carmen Leitermann (Schofield, Wis.) tied
her season-high of 18 kills on remarkable .421 hitting percentage, while Lyndsay Zabkowicz (Oak Creek, Wis.) and
Van Zeeland also reached double-figures with 16 and 10 kills, respectively. Overall,
the Phoenix out-hit Davidson .234 to .168 in the contest.
Set one was all Phoenix,
as the visitors charged out to a 13-1 lead before ultimately cruising to 25-11
win. Green Bay hit an impressive .448 in the opener while holding Wildcats to a
hitting percentage of .000. The 14-point win marked Green Bay's largest margin
of victory in any set this season.
The second set wasn't as
easy, as the Wildcats came back from a five-point deficit (20-15) to tie the
match at 23-23. Davidson gave itself five different set-point opportunities
down the stretch, but the Phoenix denied each one. Back-to-back kills by
Zabkowicz gave Green Bay a set-point chance of its own at 31-30, and Leitermann
closed the deal with a kill to give the Phoenix the 2-0 lead.
Davidson came back strong
in the next two sets, hitting .429 en route to a 25-14 win the third before
holding on for a 25-22 win in the fourth to tie the match at 2-2.
After an even start in the
deciding fifth set, the Phoenix found itself tied 10-10 after a kill by
Leitermann. The Wildcats evened the score once again at 11-11, but it would be
the final point the home team would score as the Phoenix rattled off the next
four points to win 15-11 and wrap up the tournament title.
After nine straight
matches away from home, the Phoenix returns to the Kress Center next weekend to
start its Horizon League schedule. Green Bay welcomes Cleveland State on Friday
at 7 p.m. before hosting Youngstown State on Saturday at 4 p.m.
Wildcat Classic All-Tournament Team
Leah Poel - Green Bay
(MVP)
Leah Van Zeeland - Green Bay
Monica Anderson - Green
Bay
Courtney Johnk - High Point
Annemarie Chin - High Point
Melissa Rabell Pineiro -
NC Central
Tindall Sewell - Davidson
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