GREEN BAY, Wis. (GreenBayPhoenix.com) --- The Green Bay Volleyball team took part in its first postseason tournament since the 2003 season, doing so by celebrating a dramatic 3-2 victory over Bowling Green in the First Round of the postseason NIVC at the Kress Center on Thursday night. The Phoenix (16-15) advances to the Second Round to take on Illinois state (22-9), which defeated IUPUI in the first match of the day 3-0. The Phoenix and Redbirds will face off on Friday night at 6 p.m. back at the Kress Center. 
 
The Green Bay defense was top notch throughout the evening, racking up a season-high 126 digs in the win, which is also the second-highest total in program history for a five-set match. Vanessa Buman and Emily Lautenschlager each recorded career-high efforts in digs, finishing with 36 and 23 digs, respectively. Additionally, Austyn Everingham added 25 digs, notching her 1,000th career dig in the process. The 126 digs are the most by a GB team since the team collected 138 digs in a 2007 match against Butler. 

Bowling Green (17-12) fell behind two sets to none heading to the intermission, after Green Bay rallied for a dramatic 32-30 win in the second set. The Falcons came back to win the third and fourth sets, forcing the dramatic fifth.

GB actually trailed late in the fifth set at 13-11 and with their backs against the wall, but the home team wouldn't allow its season to end after it five of the final six points in the set to win 16-14. Kills by Maddie Yoss and Lydia DeWeese, coupled with a pair of attack errors and a bad set powered the Phoenix to a thrilling victory. DeWeese finished with a team-high 17 kills, her highest total since late September. Yoss tallied 51 assists, taking control of the Phoenix attack, recording her 8th 50-plus assist performance of the season. Yoss also added a season-high 5 kills and tallied another double-double with 15 digs. 

Freshman of the Year Taylor Wolf racked up 12 kills and 16 digs, while Jessica Wolf finished with 11 kills. Roberta Todd added 13 kills of her own and took a team-high 46 swings. 

To visit NIVC Tournament Central and view the updated bracket, click here. 

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