LUBBOCK, Texas – The Green Bay volleyball team split the opening day of the Red Raider Classic, falling in five sets to Florida Atlantic in the morning before sweeping Northern Arizona 3-0 in the afternoon. The win over Northern Arizona is the 100th of head coach Abbey Sutherland's career at Green Bay.
MATCH 1 | Florida Atlantic 3, Green Bay 2
Green Bay took two of the first three sets before falling in the final two (25-15, 17-25, 25-16, 21-25, 7-15).
Cora Behnke paced a balanced Phoenix offense, finishing with 12 kills while Danilynn Schell added 11 and Katie Schulz chipped in with 10. Defensively, GB had four players reach double figures in digs, highlighted by Abby Gardner's 18, 14 from Calli Gentry, 12 from Emma Best, and 11 from Kennedy Schmitz.
SET 1 | The Phoenix was strong from the start, jumping out to an 11-4 lead. That lead ballooned to 21-10 before GB took the set 25-15. Green Bay racked up three aces in the opening set. The Phoenix also hit .320 as a team in the set.
SET 2 | Florida Atlantic responded with a dominant second set of their own, evening the match up after a 25-17 win. At one point the Phoenix battled back from a large deficit to force an Owls timeout at 19-15, but FAU scored six of the last eight points to close out the set.
SET 3 | Green Bay bounced back in the third set, grabbing it by a score of 25-16. put the second-set loss behind and took a 2-1 match lead with a win in the third set. The Phoenix took the lead at 10-9 and quickly after went on a 5-0 run to put the frame out of reach.
SET 4 | The fourth set was the closest of the match, with both teams trading points and finding themselves tied at 13. FAU just slightly outpaced the Phoenix as the set closed, outscoring GB 12-8 down the stretch to take a 25-21 set win.
SET 5 | The Owls used that momentum from the end of the fourth and jumped out to an 8-3 lead to start the fifth set. Green Bay was unable to mount a comeback, ultimately falling 15-7. FAU outhit GB .286 to .211 in the set.
GAME NOTES
» Kendall Schara and Emma Best had a team-high two aces in the loss
» Abby Gardner's 18 digs was the most of any Green Bay player so far this season
» Green Bay attackers were helped by 36 assists from Calli Gentry
MATCH 2 | Green Bay 3, Northern Arizona 0
Green Bay secured a sweep in their second match of the day over Northern Arizona (25-16, 25-13, 25-19.
Freshman Diane Pichelman finished with nine kills on the day to lead the Phoenix attack while finishing with a hitting percentage of .533. Behnke also finished the match with nine kills of her own. The Green & White got 11 digs from Kennedy Schmitz to lead them defensively.
SET 1 | The two teams started the match going back and forth until the Phoenix broke a 16-all tie with a 9-0 to close out the first set. Gentry led GB in the set with three kills.
SET 2 | Green Bay was even more dominant in the second set, taking a 2-0 lead after a 25-13 set two win. The Phoenix offense was on fire, hitting .333 and racking up five aces in the frame.
SET 3 | GB cruised to a sweep after a 25-19 win in the third set. The two teams were once again close to the end of the set, but the Phoenix scored the last five points of the set to close it. GB totaled 16 kills in the closing set.
GAME NOTES
» Best had a match-high five aces in the win
» Gentry finished the match with 25 assists
» GB outhit NAU .241 to .111
UP NEXT
The Phoenix will wrap up the weekend against Texas Tech tomorrow at 1:30 p.m. CT. Fans can follow the match on live stats or ESPN+.
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