Oct. 26, 2012

Box Score

GREEN BAY, Wis. - Monica Anderson had 14 kills to lead a balanced Green Bay attack as the Phoenix beat the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee 21-25, 25-16, 25-18, 25-18 Friday night at the Kress Center.

Julie Kolinske had 17 kills and Elizabeth Egerer added 12 for Milwaukee, but the Panthers could not overcome 29 hitting errors.

Milwaukee (8-15, 3-7) did get strong contributions in the back row from Egerer (17 digs) and Anna Bartz (17 digs), while Rachel Neuberger had six blocks in the front row.

UWM was solid in the first set, collecting 16 kills while limiting Green Bay (13-11, 4-6 Horizon) to a .116 hitting clip. But the Panthers could never get back on track after that as the Phoenix controlled the final three frames.

"It was hard to slow them down," Milwaukee head coach Susie Johnson said. "It's been very hard for our team to push back and we're just not pushing back enough. I really loved how we came out in the first set but then we couldn't sustain it."

The Panthers got the match started on the right foot by winning the first set. UWM trailed 7-4 in the early going but scored six points in a row to claim a 10-7 advantage. Green Bay led for a final time at 14-13 and did have the set tied at 18, but Milwaukee made the final surge. A kill by Maggie Dunbar put the Panthers ahead for good and a block from Dunbar and Neuberger pushed the edge to 22-19. A kill from Kolinske then pushed Milwaukee to set point and a Green Bay error sealed the win for the Panthers.

Green Bay ran away with the second set. The Phoenix broke a 7-all tie with four-straight points and eventually led 14-8 on a UWM error. The Panthers did fight back to within 17-14 on a service ace by Bartz and stayed within 19-15 on a kill by Kolinske. But Green Bay responded with six of the next seven points to wrap up the set going away.

The Phoenix kept rolling in the third set. Milwaukee actually got off to a fast start, scoring six of the first eight points. But Green Bay struck back with a six-point run of its own and led 13-8 after a block. The lead grew to 17-9 on an ace by Brittany Groth and 21-12 on a kill by Carmen Leitermann. UWM could never recover from there, falling down a set in the match.

Green Bay then took the lead for good early in the fourth set and steadily pulled away for the win. UWM was within 10-7 on a kill by Egerer and still within 15-12 on a block. But Green Bay scored six of the next seven points to claim a 21-13 lead and the Phoenix never looked back from there. A block by Neuberger and Kolinske did pull Milwaukee within 23-18 before two Green Bay kills finished things off.

UWM has a busy week ahead, starting with a Tuesday night match against crosstown-rival Marquette. Then Milwaukee hosts UIC Friday night and Loyola Saturday afternoon.