GREEN BAY, Wis. - The Green Bay volleyball team closed out the regular season by beating the Cleveland State Vikings 3-2 (25-15, 23-25, 19-25, 25-21, 15-13) Saturday at the Kress Center.
Green Bay finished the regular season 15-15 overall and 13-5 in the Horizon League. GB will enter the Horizon League Championships as the No. 2 seed and will receive a first-round bye in the tournament.
Offensively, GB was led by a career-high 23 kills from Tiffany Paalman on a .354 hitting percentage. Cora Behnke finished the night with 17 kills, while Hannah Vanden Berg put up a 15-kill, 14-dig double-double. Emma Johnson racked up a career-high 65 assists. On the defensive end, Emma Best chipped in with 20 and three blocks.
Nia Hall led the Vikings with 18 kills, while Laken Voss chipped in with 17 of her own.
HOW IT HAPPENED
SET 1 | Green Bay jumped out in front to start the first set with an early 11-4 lead. The Phoenix used that lead and cruised to an easy 25-15 set win. GB collected 17 kills while only committing two attack errors in the set. Green Bay also supplemented their offense with five aces in the opening set.
SET 2 | Green Bay then fell in set two 25-23, evening the match at a set apiece. Cleveland State grabbed the advantage for good at 18-17 in a set that was tied up three times before the Vikings took over in the second half of the stanza.
SET 3 | A 25-19 set-three loss put Green Bay down two sets to one. The Vikings used a 7-3 run in the middle of the set to take control at 20-15 and maintained that lead the rest of the way.
SET 4 | Green Bay broke their two-set losing streak and forced a fifth set with a 25-21 victory in the fourth. A 7-3 start set the Phoenix up for success, as that lead held through the entire set.
SET 5 | The fifth set came down to the wire, with the two teams, finding themselves tied at 12. The Phoenix clutched up in the end by taking three of the last four points to win the set 15-13.
GAME NOTES
» Green Bay had three players in double figures in digs.
» Kennedy Schmitz, Abby Gardner, and Vanden Berg each had three aces.
» CSU outhit GB .265 to .258.
UP NEXT
As the top seed, Wright State will host the Horizon League Championships from Nov. 17-19The Green & White will play the highest-remaining seed from the Horizon League Quarterfinal matchups on Friday, Nov. 17. GB will play on Saturday, Nov. 18 at 5 p.m.
