GB, UWM and Valpo Score Wins on Saturday in League Action

Saturday, September 28
Green Bay 3, Oakland 2 (22-25, 22-25, 29-27, 25-20, 15-9)
Milwaukee 3, Wright State 0 (25-10, 25-16, 25-13)
Valparaiso 3, UIC 1 (25-20, 25-17, 19-25, 25-16)

Green Bay 3, Oakland 2
Green Bay (7-7, 2-0 HL) gave first-year head coach Michaela Franklin a terrific birthday present on Saturday afternoon at the Kress Events Center, and the Phoenix made sure the present was as exciting as possible. After seeing visiting Oakland (6-10, 0-2 HL) rally to win the first two sets, Green Bay came back for a thrilling 3-2 win (22-25, 22-25, 29-27, 25-20, 15-9) in Horizon League volleyball action.

Green Bay led by as many as six in the opening set and by five early in set two, but the Golden Grizzlies, in their first season of Horizon League action, pulled out both sets for a 2-0 lead.

Oakland opened the third set quickly to lead 5-2, but Green Bay scored the next six points. Freshman Shannon Hurley and senior Monica Anderson set the tone in the set, combining for 17 of Green Bay’s 21 kills. Hurley had nine kills and no errors on 15 swings in the third set alone.

The Phoenix led set three 24-20 before seeing the Golden Grizzlies score the next four points to knot the score at 24. The two squads went back-and-forth before senior Leah Van Zeeland found the floor for a 29-27 Phoenix victory.

Hurley and Anderson each totaled 21 kills in the match to lead the Phoenix offensive attack. It was the second 20-plus kill effort of Hurley’s rookie campaign, and the 21 kills were a season high for Anderson. Van Zeeland recorded a double-double with 12 kills and 10 digs.

With new life, Green Bay relied on its defense in sets four and five. Oakland was hitting .298 and had just eight attack errors through the first three sets, but managed a hitting percentage of just .052 with 16 kills and 13 errors in the final two sets.

In set four, Green Bay led 17-9 before again seeing Oakland respond and cut the margin to 22-20. The Phoenix refused to panic and used kills from Van Zeeland and Anderson and a service ace from sophomore Taylor Kasal to force the decisive fifth set.

The Phoenix slowly increased its lead throughout the fifth set, breaking an early 3-3 tie with a 4-1 spurt and leading the rest of the way. After her 21st kill made the score 13-8, a solo block from Anderson ended the contest and officially let Franklin celebrate her birthday and a 2-0 Horizon League start.

Another person celebrating her birthday was sophomore libero Jillian Bauer, who recorded a season-best 29 digs in the win. Kasal was also counted on to slow Oakland’s attach, and the sophomore responded with a career-high 22 digs. Bauer and Kasal were two of five Phoenix players with double-digit dig efforts (Van Zeeland – 10, Emily Riese – 10, Becca Mastey – 10).

Sophomore setter Emily Riese totaled 59 assists in the marathon match, directing the Phoenix offense to 69 kills and a hitting percentage of .227.

Milwaukee 3, Wright State 0
Rachel Neuberger and Julie Kolinske had 10 kills apiece and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee committed just six hitting errors en route to a convincing 25-10, 25-16, 25-13 win over Wright State Saturday afternoon at the Klotsche Center.

The Panthers' defense also kept pace, collecting 13.5 blocks while limiting the Raiders to a .047 hitting clip.

Neuberger and Kolinske each reached double digits in kills without committing an error, while Neuberger added six blocks with Kolinske contributing five. Nicole Latzig led the team with seven blocks.

Meanwhile, Kayla Price directed the efficient Milwaukee offense with 31 assists as the Panthers (6-8, 2-0 Horizon) hit a season-best .386. Myanna Ruiz led the back row with 13 digs.

Stephanie Ruffing led Wright State (6-13, 0-2) with 11 kills.

Milwaukee didn't trail in any of the three sets and completely controlled play with its stellar defensive performance at the net.

The Panthers also played its most error-free match of the season on offense, one night after it overcame 26 hitting errors in a four-set win over Oakland.

The Panthers cruised in the first set. Milwaukee jumped out to a 7-2 lead and went up 12-6 on a Wright St. error. The lead grew to 15-7 on a Neuberger kill and hit 17-8 on a kill by Kolinske. Milwaukee actually scored seven in a row to balloon the advantage to 22-8 and closed out the set on another Kolinske kill.

Milwaukee was in control throughout the second set. The Panthers led 7-3 after a kill by Neuberger and were up 13-6 following an ace from Maisey Mulvey. Wright State did pull to within 16-11 but would get no closer. The lead hit 20-12 on a Neuberger kill and 22-14 on a kill by Kolinske. UWM then closed things out on a block by Neuberger and Ruiz.

UWM then finished off the match with another convincing win in the third frame. Milwaukee jumped out to a 5-1 lead and went ahead 13-3 on a kill by Hannah Blanchard. The lead was still 16-6 following a kill by Nicole Latzig and the Panthers were never truly threatened after that. A triple block from Kolinske, Latzig and Price made it 23-13 and a solo block from Latzig eventually finished things off.

Valparaiso 3, UIC 1
A balanced team effort was more than enough for Valparaiso to earn a win in its Horizon League opener on Saturday afternoon, as the Crusaders captured a 3-1 (25-20, 25-17, 19-25, 25-16) victory over UIC in Chicago.

Redshirt junior Kelsey Victor and junior Morgan Beil opened the match with kills for Valpo, part of a 4-0 spurt to start the first set that gave the Crusaders a lead they wouldn't relinquish. UIC closed to within one point at 13-12, and following a mini-run by Valpo, drew back to within 21-18, but the Crusaders scored three straight on two Beil kills and a Flame error to make it 24-18. UIC scored the next two points, but senior Sarah Dooms ended the opener with a kill to give Valpo the one-set lead.

UIC led briefly in the early stages of set two, but the Crusaders took the lead for good with a 5-1 run. The Flames tied the set at seven-all, but a 8-1 run gave Valpo control of the frame. The Crusaders were able to withstand four straight points by the Flames which cut the lead to 15-12, coming out of a timeout with five straight points and cruising into the in-game break from there.

The third set proved to be the only blip in the match for Valpo, as UIC gained control with a six-point spurt in the middle stages to force a fourth set. But in the eventual final frame, the Crusaders led start to finish, cementing their position with a 9-2 run over the middle portions of the set which pushed their lead to nine points. UIC closed to within 19-15, but Valpo allowed the Flames just one point the rest of the way in closing out the road win.

Freshman Emily Campbell paced the Valpo offense with 12 kills, while senior Ellen Vanden Berg posted 11 kills on .450 hitting. The balanced attack saw Beil and Dooms end the night with eight kills each as well. Sophomore Kelsey Berrington dished out 25 assists to go with 15 assists from senior Ariel Cudney.

Freshman Morganne Longoria led all players with 22 digs and also picked up two of Valpo's five service aces. Dooms chipped in 13 digs, while Campbell added 10 digs for her third double-double of the season. Victor matched her season high with seven blocks and Beil tied her season-best effort at the net with five rejections as the Crusaders registered 10 blocks as a team.

Sara Sternard led all players with 13 kills on .478 hitting, while Melissa Nava hit .435 with 11 kills and Kara Johnson added 10 kills for UIC (5-11, 0-1 Horizon). But the Crusaders also forced Johnson into 13 attack errors and held Casey Harris to a negative hitting percentage as well. MaryKate Imrie handed out 43 assists, and Justine Garcia paced the Flames with 15 digs.