GREEN BAY — The Green Bay Phoenix (7-5 Horizon League) came out firing Tuesday night, taking the opening set and battling through a tight fourth, but fell in four sets to Milwaukee (30-28, 21-25, 20-25, 24-26) at the Kress Events Center.
“I thought we did a good job. There is a lot that we can work on, but overall we played together as a team and even though we didn’t win, we lost as a team and we weren’t individualized, which I think can be a big problem for a lot of teams.” said outside hitter Katie Schulz.
The Phoenix set the tone early in the first set. Strong serving and long rallies allowed Green Bay to trade points deep into the first set. Late kills from Katie Schulz and Gillian Koning, along with a block by Kayla Birmingham and Olivia Neumann at 25-25, helped secure the 30-28 first set win.
Milwaukee bounced back in the second and third sets by tightening up their block and forcing the Phoenix into tougher swings. Green Bay continued to create chances offensively, but the Panthers found a few key points late in each set to pull ahead 2-1 in the match.
Green Bay fought until the very end. Trailing 20-15 in the fourth set, the Phoenix surged back behind a Birmingham ace, a Koning kill, and consistent play in the back row. Green Bay tied the set at 24-24, but Milwaukee finished the final two points to close out the match.
Koning led Green Bay with 15 kills on 51 attempts, while Schulz added 14 kills and 15.5 total points. Neumann posted 10 kills and 4 blocks at the net. Setter Emma Johnson controlled the offense with 48 assists and contributed 14 digs defensively. The rest of the Phoenix back row stood strong throughout the match as well with Best, Birmingham, Schmitz, and Gardner combining for 51 digs.
“Coming off of our Wright State loss, I think we responded really, really well to that,” Neumann said. “We practiced hard yesterday, and we’re going to practice hard tomorrow.”
Looking ahead to a challenging road trip, Schulz said the team is staying motivated.
“I am honestly so pumped,” Schulz said. “We are putting so much time into lifts and practice and talking with coaches and mental performance leaders. It’s so awesome and we’re going to connect well as a team.”
Green Bay travels south later this week to take on Northern Kentucky friday and saturday as Horizon League play continues.
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