By:
Andrew Gavin (
@GBGavin)
GreenBayPhoenix.com
GREEN BAY, Wis. (GreenBayPhoenix.com) -
With just
four matches left in its 2011 regular season, the Green Bay volleyball
team will welcome two Horizon League opponents to the Kress Events
Center this week. The Phoenix (10-14, 6-6 HL) will
host Butler (12-13, 8-5 HL) Thursday at 7 p.m. and Wright State (4-22,
3-10 HL) on Saturday at 2 p.m.
Saturday's match against Wright State will be Senior Day for the program where the Phoenix will honor the team's four seniors -
Alison Bohnen (St. Germain, Wis.), Abbey Gitter (Hortonville, Wis.), Kelly Mischler (Kaukauna, Wis.) and
Carlie Willison (Greenfield, Wis.). The match is part of
a busy day on campus, with men's soccer and women's basketball also
hosting games on campus. After the match until 8 p.m.,
Green Bay Athletics is hosting
Phoenix FanFest, a free event for all children.
The
Phoenix has won two matches in row to get to .500 in the league and
sits in sixth place in the conference standings, but is just a game and a
half out of third place,
which is shared by Butler and Valparaiso.
In its most recent match,
Green Bay defeated Loyola
3-1 last Friday. Junior
Brittany Groth (Oak Creek, Wis.) had a memorable and
record-breaking night for the Phoenix, tallying her 1,000th career dig
and breaking a school record for digs in a four-set match with 35. For
the performance, Groth was named on Monday as
the Horizon League Defensive
Player of the Week.
Green
Bay's offense had an impressive night in the win, with three different
players tallying at least 14 kills. Gitter and sophomore
Leah Van Zeeland (Kaukauna, Wis.) had 16 kills apiece while junior
Carmen Leitermann (Schofield, Wis.) recorded 14 kills.
A LOOK AT BUTLER (12-13, 8-5):
The Bulldogs are one of the hottest teams in the Horizon
League with wins in seven of its last eight matches. Butler sophomore
Maggie Harbison leads the league in blocking with 1.15 per set while
Maureen Bamiro is sixth in the conference in hitting percentage (.299).
In the first meeting between the two teams, the
Bulldogs earned a 3-0 sweep over Green Bay and Bamiro had 17 kills on
Oct. 9.
A LOOK AT WRIGHT STATE (4-22, 3-10):
In the first meeting between Wright State and Green
Bay posted a 3-1 win in Dayton on Oct. 9. Gitter had 13 kills and did
not commit an error to lead the Phoenix while Heidi Splinter had 14
kills and 15 digs for WSU. Groth had a match-high 26 digs in the
contest.
MATCH POINT - HEAR IT FROM THE COACH:
In the most recent episode of Match Point with
Debbie Kirch, the Phoenix head coach talks with host
Andrew Gavin about the team's victory over Loyola, playing the final two home matches and the team's seniors. To watch the show,
click here.
FOLLOW IT LIVE:
For those unable to come to this week's matches, live stats and live video will be available for both matches.
To access the live video and live stats, go to the
volleyball
schedule page on GreenBayPhoenix.com.
#
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