By Justin Grones
GreenBayPhoenix.com

MILWAUKEE, Wis. (GreenBayPhoenix.com) - The Green Bay volleyball team (9-7, 1-2) felt a little déjà vu Friday night after falling behind two sets to none to Milwaukee, but unfortunately couldn't pull out the same come-from-behind result it did Wednesday in a win at DePaul. Milwaukee held on to defeat the Phoenix 25-18, 25-22, 14-25, 19-25, 15-7.

"I'm proud of how we fought back in sets three and four, but we have to learn how to play that way in set one," Head Coach Debbie Kirch said. "Hopefully we learned tonight we can't keep digging holes early."

The loss brings Green Bay's record to 9-7 with a 1-2 mark in Horizon League play. The Phoenix now has a 5-2 record in its seven five-set matches this year. With the win, Milwaukee improves to 7-9 overall and 2-1 in conference play.

Sparked by junior Monica Anderson (Cottage Grove, Wis.), who posted a team-high 20 kills while hitting .471 in the match, Green Bay was able to get back on track after dropping sets one and two. The Phoenix overpowered Milwaukee throughout the third set, outhitting the Panthers .448 to .097.

"I think Monica played extremely well, she was aggressive the entire match," Kirch said.

Although close in the beginning of the set, Green Bay carried its momentum into set four and capitalized on Milwaukee's .175 hitting percentage. Senior Carmen Leitermann (Schofield, Wis.) posted six of her 17 kills on the night in the set, helping the Phoenix force a fifth set.

Milwaukee jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead in the final set, but three straight kills by junior Leah Van Zeeland (Kaukauna, Wis.) put Green Bay back in the game and forced a Milwaukee timeout. The Panthers came out of the timeout scoring five straight, sparked by kills from Elizabeth Egerer and Julie Kolinske. Green Bay cut the lead to 10-5 after kills by Van Zeeland and Leitermann, but couldn't stop Milwaukee from pulling away with the eventual 15-7 set win.

Junior Leah Poel (Jenison, Mich.) led all players with 58 assists, improving her average to 10.6 assists per set. Senior Brittany Groth (Oak Creek, Wis.) posted a team-high 23 digs on the night while adding a pair of assists.

Green Bay will be back on the road next weekend as the team heads to Chicago for two Horizon League matches. The Phoenix will play UIC Friday, Oct. 5, and Loyola on Oct. 6.  The Phoenix will play its first home match in more than two weeks on Oct. 9, when Chicago State visits the Kress Events Center for a nonconference matchup.

###

For the latest and most up-to-date information on Green Bay Athletics, please visit GreenBayPhoenix.com.

Follow us on Twitter: @GBPhoenix, @GBPhoenixVB and @RyanHartwig

Like Green Bay Phoenix Volleyball and Green Bay Phoenix Athletics on Facebook.

---GreenBayPhoenix.com---