GREEN BAY, Wis. - The Green Bay volleyball team opened the Green Bay Invite with a 2-0 day, defeating North Dakota and Drake. GB ran away with a 3-0 victory against the Fighting Hawks in the opener before notching a hard-fought 3-1 win over Drake in the nightcap.
The two non-conference victories improved Green Bay's overall record to 7-5.
Alexandra Zakutney paced GB with 26 kills on the day, moving into sixth for career kills in program history. She needs just 36 more to climb into fifth all-time to surpass Jessica Wolf's record of 1,071 (2015-2018).
GREEN BAY 3, NORTH DAKOTA 0
SET 1 | The Phoenix grabbed control on the first point and never trailed to secure the first set 25-12. Green Bay led by 14 points at 23-9 before closing the set. The Phoenix supplemented their offense with four aces in the opening set.
SET 2 | Green Bay took the second set 25-14 to grab a 2-0 lead. The Phoenix took control of the set lead early on at 6-5 and never trailed after. Green Bay's front row blocked four North Dakota attacks in the stanza and capitalized on 11 North Dakota attacking errors.
SET 3 | The Phoenix finished the match with a victory in set three. Green Bay scored first and never looked back. The Phoenix opened up as much as a six-point lead at 19-13 before finishing off the set, totaling 15 kills in the process. Green Bay's front row denied four North Dakota attacks along the way.
GREEN BAY 3, DRAKE 1
SET 1 | The Phoenix was powered by a .350 attack percentage with 20 kills in the set victory. After the lead changed hands seven times, Green Bay took control for good at 23-22 and rode that advantage to the set win.
SET 2 | Green Bay put themselves on the cusp of a sweep with a 25-11 victory in set two. The Phoenix scored first and never trailed. Green Bay opened its largest lead of 14 points to close out the set while totaling 19 kills without notching an attack error. The Phoenix hit .594 in set two.
SET 3 | Drake denied GB of a sweep in the third set, coming out strong by scoring the first three points. Cora Behnke would notch a kill to cut the deficit to 3-1, but Drake would come back with five consecutive points, primarily because of three Phoenix attack errors. GB would slowly work their way back into it, eventually clawing back to a three-point game at 14-11 to the Bulldogs' advantage. However, Drake would score 11 of 14 points to close out the set, 25-14.
SET 4 | Green Bay responded in style by never looking back after grabbing a 2-1 lead early in set number four. The Phoenix led by as many as nine points, collecting 19 kills while only registering two attack errors in the set.
GAME NOTES
» Abby Gardner had a match-high two aces in the win over North Dakota.
» Tiffany Paalman had a match-high seven blocks against ND.
» Ashlyn Olson had a team-high 11 kills for the Fighting Hawks.
» Green Bay had a .284 hit percentage compared to North Dakota's .079.
» A total of six players reached double-digit kills in the Drake-Green Bay match.
» Cora Behnke notched 19 kills, tied for the third-highest in her career in a single game.
» Zakutney also finished with 19 kills against the Bulldogs, her second-most in a single match this season.
» The Phoenix had an impressive .342 hit percentage in the victory over Drake.
COMING UP
The Green Bay Invite concludes tomorrow, with another four games to play. To see the full slate of Saturday action, view the schedule here. All day passes for the event are $10. All games can be followed in real-time with live stats, while GB's games against SIUE and Western Illinois will be streamed on ESPN+.
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