DAYTON, Ohio – The regular season has come to an end, and the Green Bay volleyball team is set to enter postseason play at the Horizon League Championships hosted by Wright State. The No. 4 seeded Phoenix will take on the No. 5 seeded Purdue Fort Wayne on Friday at 5 p.m. CT.
GAMEDAY INFORMATION
No. 4 Green Bay (14-16, 11-7 HL) vs. No. 5 Purdue Fort Wayne (17-14, 10-8 HL)
Friday, Nov. 22
5:00 PM CST | Game Notes
Follow the action: Watch (ESPN+) | Live Stats
ABOUT THE MASTODONS
The Mastodons are led by Head Coach Steve Florio. Florio is in his 11th season at the helm of Purdue Fort Wayne and has a career record of 135-195. This is the first time PFW has made the Horizon League Tournament since the shortened 2020-21 season. Panna Ratkai leads all of the Horizon League in kills per set at 4.69 and total kills with 496. Taya Haffner is sixth in assists averaging 7.12 per set. LonDynn Betts places sixth in the HL averaging 4.78 digs per set.
HISTORY VS PURDUE FORT WAYNE
Green Bay and Purdue Fort Wayne have been playing each other since 2001, with the Phoenix leading the all-time series 11-7. The Phoenix won both matches earlier this season at the Kress Center, 3-0 and 3-1. In the first matchup, Katie Schulz led the team with 18 kills, Emma Best had 10, and Danilynn Schell had nine. In the second match-up this season the Phoenix had three players in double-digit kills: Danilynn Schnell (17), Emma Best (11), and Katie Schulz (10). Calli Gentry tallied 44 assists while Abby Gardner had 17 digs with Emma Best also tallying 14 digs of her own. GB has won five out of the last six matches between the two teams.
LAST TIME OUT
Green Bay defeated Robert Morris in four sets (25-23, 25-22, 24-26, 25-14) on Senior Day to wrap up the regular season this past weekend. The Phoenix had four players in double-digit kills: Cora Behnke (16), Katie Schulz (16), Olivia Neumann (10), and Diane Pichelman (10). Abby Gardner had 11 digs and Kendall Schara added 10 to lead the Phoenix defensively. Calli Gentry added a team-high 50 assists.
POSTSEASON PLAY
Green Bay is 18-31 in postseason play all-time, and 17-19 in Horizon League Tournament games. However, none have come against Purdue Fort Wayne. Under Abbey Sutherland, the Phoenix is 5-4 in the HL Tournament, including a Horizon League Championship win in 2018, and a Championship appearance in 2023.
HL HONORS
Earlier this week, the Horizon League announced the All-Academic Team and All-League awards. Green Bay was represented well, with Katie Schulz being named First Team, Calli Gentry named Second Team and All-Academic, Diane Pichelman being named to the All-Freshman Team, and Abby Gardner being also being named All-Academic.
RECORD BOOK GENTRY
Earlier this season, Calli Gentry surpassed the 4,000 career assists mark, and now has the third-most assists in Phoenix program history. The redshirt-senior also surpassed the 1,000-career dig mark this season.
CORA MAKING HISTORY
Cora Behnke surpassed 1,00 career kills against Milwaukee on Oct. 29. Behnke is now just the ninth player in GB history to surpass the 1,000-kill mark. Behnke's career-high in kills came this season as well with 23 against Northern Kentucky on Nov. 2.
SWINGIN' SCHULZ
Sophomore outside hitter Katie Schulz has burst onto the scene during her sophomore season. Schulz is first on the team in kills with 365. The Appleton, Wis. native finished with double figure kills in 18 of the 30 matches this season. Schulz had a career-high 22 kills against Cleveland State on Oct. 12.
BEST SERVES
Green Bay redshirt-junior Emma Best is one of the best servers in the Horizon League. The Phoenix outside hitter has 43 aces in 30 matches or 0.38 aces per set, which is the third most in the Horizon League behind Grace Purichia from IU Indy and Lauren Yacobucci from Wright State.
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