GREEN BAY, Wis. (GreenBayPhoenix.com) – The Green Bay women's volleyball team travels west this weekend, participating in the Utah Classic where it will play a pair of ranked teams and another high-major power at the Jon Huntsman Center on campus at the University of Utah. Green Bay (4-2) will open play on Friday evening at 5:30 p.m. CT against Missouri, who recently fell out of the AVCA Top 25. On Saturday, the Phoenix will face 18th-ranked Utah (5-1) at 1 p.m. CT and 15th-ranked San Diego (4-2) at 6 p.m. CT.
THIS WEEKEND (Salt Lake City, Utah)
Friday, Sept. 8
vs. Missouri (Huntsman Center), 5:30 p.m. | LIVE STATS
Saturday, Sept. 9
at #18 Utah (Huntsman Center), 1 p.m. | LIVE STATS
vs. #15 San Diego (Huntsman Center), 6 p.m. | LIVE STATS
Social Media: Twitter
OPPONENT OUTLOOK
Missouri last saw action at the Boise State Invitational where the Tigers went 1-2 on the weekend. Missouri picked up the 3-1 victory over Sacramento State, but dropped the next match to No. 10-ranked BYU, 3-1, and then was swept by tournament host, Boise State, to close out the event. Missouri's offense comes from many athletes, but leading the Tigers on the season is freshman Leketor Member-Meneh with 78 kills (3.00 k/set) and senior Kira Larson with 61 kills (2.10 k/set). Senior Courtney Eckenrode has totaled 234 assists on the year (8.07 a/set), while junior Alyssa Munlyn has controlled the net for the Tigers with 43 total blocks on the year (1.48 blk/s).
Utah swept its way past South Dakota and Western Carolina, then rallied to defeat Hawaii in four sets to take the Hawaiian Airlines Rainbow Wahine Classic in Honolulu this past weekend. Adora Anae posted 10+ kill efforts in all three matches, which also included her notching her second double-double of the season in the win over Hawaii. Berkely Oblad totaled 25 kills and chipped in on defense with 11 total blocks, while sophomore Bailey Choy collected 102 assists while running the Ute offense. All three players were later named to the all-tournament team, with Anae taking home tournament MVP honors.
San Diego moved up two spots in the latest AVCA Coaches Poll, ranked No.15 overall, after going 1-2 in the San Diego Invitational this past weekend. The Toreros earned sweeps over Georgia Tech and Villanova before falling to then No.4-ranked Texas. San Diego dropped the match to Texas in four sets. Senior Jayden Kennedy leads San Diego on the year with 65 kills (3.42 k/set), while junior Kaity Edwards and freshman Roxie Wiblin have each chipped in 55 kills on the year. Senior Kristen Gengenbacher has totaled 197 assists (10.37 a/set) for the offense, while senior Lizzy Tardieu leads the team defensively with 76 digs (4.00 dig/s).
SERIES HISTORY
Green Bay has only faced Missouri (L, 1997) and Utah (L, 1992) once in program history, dropping both matches. The Phoenix has never played San Diego.
TEAM LEADERS
Lydia DeWeese leads the Phoenix through six matches with 4.00 kills per set and is hitting at a .435 clip. The senior also leads the team with 17 blocks. Maddie Yoss has run the offense so far this season, racking up 267 assists (12.7 per set) while adding 8 blocks and 39 digs. Vanessa Buman, who earned All-Tournament Team honors last weekend, has accumulated 110 digs (5.24 per set), 11 assists and a team-high 6 aces.
HOME ON THE HORIZON
Green Bay will challenge itself once more outside of league play this weekend in Utah, and will play its first match at home next weekend (Sept. 15-16) when it hosts the Green Bay Country Inn & Suites Classic. The Phoenix will begin a stretch of six-straight matches at home, four of them in league play. North Dakota (Friday, Sept. 15) and Cal Poly (Saturday, Sept. 16) are on tap next weekend, with the Kress Center hosting three other matches that also includes new Horizon League member IUPUI.
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