(GREEN BAY ATHLETICS) GREEN BAY, Wis. – On Thursday night, the Green Bay volleyball team dropped a tightly contested five-set match (20-25, 18-25, 26-24, 30-28, 12-15) to the visiting Western Michigan Broncos at the Kress Center. Despite a career performance from Katie Schulz, the Phoenix came up just short in a back-and-forth battle that lasted over two and a half hours.
Green Bay moves to 1-8 on the season and will look to bounce back at home tomorrow against Tennessee Tech in their second game at Kendall’s Battle at the Capital Credit Union Classic.
Katie Schulz paced the Phoenix with a career-high 32 kills, hitting .333 in a dominant offensive outing. Schulz made history tonight, racking up the second-most kills in a single match in program history, joining Janelle Tomlinson as the only Phoenix player with 30+ kills in a match. Diane Pichelman added 15 kills and 3 service aces, while Emma Johnson tallied 48 assists, and Emma Best anchored the defense with 27 digs. Olivia Neumann chipped in with a team-high 5 blocks.
Western Michigan was led by Molly Brown, who posted 25 kills on a .585 hitting percentage.
HOW IT HAPPENED
SET 1 | The Broncos came out fast, taking an early lead and keeping Green Bay at bay throughout the set. WMU hit .341 in the opener and secured a 25-20 win to go up 1-0.
SET 2 | Western Michigan built on its momentum in the second set, jumping out to an early 11-5 lead. The Phoenix rallied but couldn’t close the gap, dropping the set 25-18 despite 7 kills from Schulz in the frame.
SET 3 | Green Bay fought back with energy, using tough serving and a late run to claim a 26-24 win in extra points. Schulz delivered the final two kills of the set, giving the Phoenix new life down 2-1.
SET 4 | In the most dramatic set of the night, both teams traded points deep into extras. Green Bay held multiple set points but couldn’t close it out. Eventually GB took the set 30-28 to tie the match up 2-2. Both teams were strong offensively in the set. With WMU hitting .327 and GB hitting .239 as a team.
SET 5 | The deciding set stayed tight until Western Michigan pulled away right at the end. The Broncos closed the match on a 3-1 run to win the set 15-12 and escape with a 3-2 victory.
GAME NOTES
- Katie Schulz led the Phoenix with a career-high 32 kills, hitting .333.
- Green Bay’s strongest offensive set was the fourth, where they tallied 20 kills and hit .304.
- The Phoenix recorded 67 kills, 63 assists, and 78 digs as a team.
- The match featured 34 ties and 16 lead changes across five competitive sets.
- The Broncos edged out Green Bay in total points, 82-81.
COMING UP
Green Bay returns to action tomorrow night when they host Tennessee Tech in their second matchup at Kendall’s Battle at the Capital Credit Union Classic. Then, GB will finish the weekend facing UNI on Saturday afternoon. The Phoenix will look to continue to defend home court as they head into conference play and face Youngstown State on September 26-27.
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