GREEN BAY, Wis. (GreenBayPhoenix.com)--- The Green Bay volleyball team took their first win at the Champyinz Invitational this evening with the come-from-behind victory against Duquesne (25-22, 20-25, 21-25, 25-15, 15-10).  This match at PPG Paints Arena saw the Phoenix not only participate in the first-ever volleyball match at the infamous hockey arena but take the first victory also.

Green Bay 3, Duquesne 2
Tonight's match wasn't necessarily the prettiest volleyball Green Bay has played this season, but the squad fought tough the whole way to take the victory.  Once again this season, Taylor Wolf led the team in kills with 23.  In the fourth set of the match, Wolf recorded her 1,000^th kill of her career and is only the 7^th player in program history to reach that milestone.  Junior Ashley Sledge chipped in a season-high 15 kills, one away from her career-high and sophomore Shannon Coughlin added 11.  Senior Maddie Yoss had a double-double in the match, leading the Phoenix with 54 assist and adding 12 digs defensively.

Set one (25-22) saw the Phoenix take the early lead and hold off the Dukes comeback.  Duquesne tied the set at 20-20, but Green Bay composed themselves late.  Taylor Wolf led the Phoenix with 6 kills, followed by Ashley Sledge who had 5.  Freshman libero Brenna Hesse and senior defensive specialist were huge for the Phoenix defensively each contributing 8 and 5 digs respectively.  Junior Anna Eaton sealed the deal on the 25^th point with one of her two aces, to take the set for Green Bay.

Set two (20-25) went the way of the Dukes.  Green Bay hung around the entire set, but Duquesne never surrendered the lead.  The Dukes heated up on the offensive side of the net, with a hitting percentage of .333, which was much better than their first set of .146.  That was the difference in the set, with the Phoenix leading in attacks and committing two less errors than the Dukes.

Set three (21-25) had Duquesne overcome a Green Bay rally halfway through to take the set.  The Phoenix took the lead midway at 14-12 after trailing the entire first half.  However, the Dukes went on a run of their own to finish things off.  Neither team performed at a high clip offensively, but Duquesne led the two squads in hitting percentage and had five more digs defensively than Green Bay.

Set four (25-15) was controlled the entire way by the Phoenix.  Green Bay dominated offensively with 17 kills compared to Duquesne's 7.  The Phoenix showed up on the defensive end too, earning four more digs than the Dukes and having four players contribute block-assist in the set.

Set five (15-10) saw Green Bay completed the comeback and take the match.  A flurry of Phoenix contributed kills in the fifth set, with Taylor Wolf yet again leading the way with four.  Junior Micaela Kent stepped up defensively with five of the team's digs, while four others chipped in as well.  The squad did their job at the front of the net as well, with four players tallying block-assist and Anna Eaton adding a solo block of her own.

The defense carried the Phoenix in this match, recording a season-high 86 digs.  Five different players had double-digit digs, with freshman Brenna Hesse leading the way with 25.  Micaela Kent had a career-high in digs herself with 13, and Emily Lautenschlager ended the match with a season high 16.  The team had six different players record a block in the match, and the defensive-wall that is Ashley Sledge and Anna Eaton contributed eight of the teams sixteen block-assist.

Next Game
The Phoenix take on Pittsburgh and Ohio State tomorrow (September 7^th) at the Fitzgerald Field House. Green Bay squares off with Ohio State at 12:00 p.m. CT and then against Pittsburgh at 5:00 p.m. CT.  The match against Ohio State will not be streamed, but the matchup with Pittsburgh will be aired on the ACC Network Extra.
 
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