By Patrick Stumpf
GREEN BAY, Wis. (GreenBayPhoenix.com) – The Phoenix Volleyball team earned a hard-fought split on the opening day at the Varney's Invitational in Manhattan, Kan., following a come-from-behind 3-1 win (11-25, 25-21, 25-18, 25-20) over UNLV. Earlier in the day, Green Bay began pool play at Bramlage Coliseum by falling 3-0 (16-25, 18-25, 14-25) to the tournament host, the Kansas State Wildcats.
GAME ONE
Junior Megan Powers led the Phoenix with a team-high seven kills and senior Jillian Bauer continued her strong defensive play to start the season with 17 digs, but Green Bay could not overcome an impressive home-opening showing by the Wildcats.
Trailing after one set, Green Bay took a 15-14 lead in set number two; however, Kansas State closed on an 11-3 run following a timeout to take control of the match. The Wildcats were led by junior Brooke Sassin, who tallied a match-high 11 kills, while Katie Brand led all players with 31 assists.
With the win, Kansas State (3-1) recorded its 18-straight home victory against non-conference opponents.
The Phoenix (2-2) had a quick turnaround afterward, as head coach Sean Burdette's team took on the Runnin' Rebels in the very next match.
GAME TWO
After falling behind 1-0 for the second straight match, the Phoenix responded in a big way against a UNLV squad that had a record campaign in 2014, setting school-records in both overall (26) and conference-wins (14).
In what was the first volleyball meeting ever between the two schools, Green Bay led throughout the second and third sets, and would not trail again until the fourth set, after UNLV took a 7-6 lead.
The Runnin' Rebels extended its lead to four at 15-11 out of a Phoenix timeout, but Green Bay proceeded to rattle off nine straight points to grab a 20-15 lead, and ultimately seal the win.
“This win is a testament to how hard we've worked," said head coach Sean Burdette. "I keep talking about the team, because it is such a good group playing together. UNLV is a top-50 RPI team, 45 if I remember correctly, that had great success last year."
Freshman Samantha Anthon (13 kills) and Jessica Wolf (12 kills) combined for more than half of the Phoenix's 48 kills in the match, while seniors Emily Riese (39 assists) and Jillian Bauer (27 digs) made their presence felt for the second-consecutive week.
Burdette noted that it was critical his team didn't panic after getting down early.
“I thought we really did a nice job of staying the course, and working through our game plan. On the defense side, our team fought so hard all night long. I credit our upperclassmen for pulling the team together. We had a long talk after K-State where we just didn't come out well and didn't compete the way we wanted to. ”
"The girls have a good belief right now that if they stay together, we can run some points and be able to make things work in our favor."
The victory makes Green Bay a perfect 3-0 in four-set matches thus far this season.
UP NEXT
The Phoenix will conclude pool-play tomorrow morning against California, with first-serve scheduled at 11 a.m. Speaking to the quality competition his team will have seen, Burdette noted it's key anytime you can play major-conference opponents leading up to conference season.
"It's really big to play these opponents," he said. "It doesn't matter whose on the other side of the court, we have to go out and play our game. All three of these teams play a very different style, so it's a matter of how quickly you can make adjustments and put pressure on the opponent."
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