UW-Green Bay defeats Youngstown State, 3-1, in the opening round of the Horizon League Volleyball Championship

Nov. 17, 2005

CHICAGO- University of Wisconsin-Green Bay defeated Youngstown State, 3-1, in the opening round of the Horizon League Championship on Thursday night.

Liesl Tesch had 17 kills to lead five Phoenix with double-figure kills on the night. Jackie Rosen and Jill Smits each tallied 11 kills, while Betty Slinger and Abby Bergmsa added 10 apiece. UW-Green Bay libero Sarah Rauen's 34 digs tied the Horizon League Championship record held by Kathy Kalb of Xavier (1987) and Arian Adams of Loyola (1997).

Katie Shea led the Penguins with 17 kills, while Cari Leslie added a double-double of 14 kills and 18 digs. With 49 assists on the match, setter Angie Pasquinelli become only the second player in the history of the Youngstown State program to reach 4,000 assists for a career. Her 1,209 assists on the season are also the fourth highest single season total in school history.

After back-and-forth points most of the way, a kill by Abby Ettenhofer gave YSU a 30-28 win in game one. Despite being outhit by the Phoenix, 20 kills to 14, Youngstown State was able to capitalize on 10 Phoenix attack errors, compared to only five for the Penguins.

The Phoenix took game two in yet another close battle. Neither team held more than a three-point lead at any point during the game, and they traded points until an attack error by Jessica Fraley followed by a block by Jill Smits finally gave Green Bay a 34-32 victory.

The Phoenix outhit YSU .206 to .143 to take a 30-23 game three victory, then took a 30-25 win game four to take the match.

With the win, UW-Green Bay (15-14, 6-8) advances to face No. 4 Loyola on Friday, November 18 at 5 p.m. CT. Youngstown State ends the season at 7-22, 0-14 in League play.

The 2005 Horizon League Volleyball Championship will be held Thursday through Sunday, Nov. 17-20, at the Flames Center on the campus of University of Illinois at Chicago. The winner of Sunday's championship match will earn the League's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.