GREEN BAY, Wis. (GreenBayPhoenix.com) --- The Green Bay women's volleyball team will begin its 2018 slate this Friday at the Cowtown Classic, a two-day tournament hosted by Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas. On Sunday, they will stay to play an additional regular season, nonconference match at the same site.

"Our team has put in a lot of work and shown their commitment to each other throughout preseason," said head coach Abbey Sutherland, entering her first year at the helm of Green Bay volleyball. "Now that we get to compete, we are excited to build upon our foundation. We have a mindset to embrace challenges on the road, and know that there will be a ton of great learning opportunities. It's time to play; we are ready to compete and grow together."

The Phoenix will start off by facing SIUE on Friday at 2:00 p.m., then turn around quickly to go head-to-head with the host team, TCU, at 6:00 p.m. On Saturday, Green Bay will battle their final opponent of the tournament, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, at 2:00 p.m. The next day, the team will have a matchup with North Dakota at 9:00 a.m. before traveling home.

To view the full weekend schedule, click HERE (PDF).

Schedule
Friday, August 24
vs. SIUE @ 2:00 p.m.
vs. TCU @ 6:00 p.m.
Saturday, August 25
vs. UAB @ 2:00 p.m.
Sunday, August 26
vs. North Dakota @ 9:00 a.m.
 
Media
The TCU vs. Green Bay match on Friday will air live on FOX Sports Southwest Plus. The link to live stats can be found HERE as well as on the 2018 Green Bay volleyball schedule page.
 
Opponent Outlook
Last year, Green Bay met TCU for the first time in program history in the third round of the National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC), where they fell 0-3. The Phoenix also played North Dakota in 2017 while hosting the Green Bay Country Inn and Suites Classic, also taking a loss of 0-3. Green Bay hasn't seen SIUE since 2016, where they bested the Cougars 3-2.

Meanwhile, this weekend will be the first time that GB will go up against UAB in over 25 years. The only previous matchup is in 1991, where the Phoenix lost 0-3. However, Green Bay held both a higher conference and overall record percentage in 2017 than UAB, .562 to .286 and .515 to .367, respectively.
 
2018 Green Bay Outlook
The Phoenix has taken on five new freshmen for the 2018 season, therefore making two-thirds of this year's team underclassmen. That may have been a major deciding factor in the Horizon League Volleyball Preseason Poll, which picked Green Bay to finish fourth in the conference this year.

Last year, the team finished second in the Horizon League Tournament for the second year in a row, and selected returners Taylor Wolf and Maddie Yoss as members of the All-Tournament Team. Wolf and Yoss were also named to the All-League Team, where Wolf was honored as Freshman of the Year.

After the Horizon League Tournament, Green Bay had the opportunity to continue their postseason in the elite National Invitational Volleyball Championship, participating in the NIVC for the first time in program history. The women made it all the way to the third round before falling to TCU.
 
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