(GREEN BAY ATHLETICS) COOKEVILLE, TENN – The Green Bay volleyball team kicked off its second weekend of the 2026 season with a win and a loss on day one of the Golden Eagle Invitational hosted by Tennessee Tech. The Phoenix took down Tennessee State in game one, 3-0, before falling to the hosts Friday night, 3-2.
Green Bay is now 2-3 on the season and will conclude the weekend tomorrow against Austin Peay at 10:30 a.m. CT.
“Definitely a heartbreaker tonight, but I’m proud of the resilience our team showed to keep battling and push it to five,” said head coach Abbey Sutherland. “Division I volleyball is a grind, and we don’t have time to feel sorry for ourselves. What we do have is time to keep coming together, keep learning, and keep believing in what we’re building. Olivia Neumann stepped up in a big way as a leader tonight, and there were a lot of positives we can take from this match. We learned a lot from last weekend, and we’ll learn from this one too. Thankfully, we get another opportunity in the morning.”
Sutherland continued, “It’s my job to be the engineer of belief for this team. We’ll get back to the drawing board, take the lessons from tonight and be ready to bounce back.”
GAME ONE | Green Bay 3, Tennessee State 0
Green Bay needed only three sets to knock off the Tigers (25-14, 25-18, 25-13) Friday afternoon.
The Phoenix offense was paced by Gillian Koning, who finished with 11 kills on the day while accumulating a hitting percentage of .348, and by Diane Pichelman, who had 10 kills while hitting .438. GB got 13 digs from Macy Kline to lead them defensively.
HOW IT HAPPENED
SET 1 | The Phoenix grabbed control of the set-one lead at 5-4 and never looked back to win 25-14. Green Bay led by as many as 12 points at 24-12 before finishing off the set.
SET 2 | Green Bay built on a set-one win by securing a 25-18 victory in set two. The Phoenix never trailed by more than five points and grabbed the advantage for good at 12-11 in a set that showcased two lead changes before Green Bay took over the lead. The Green Bay offense got a boost from three aces.
SET 3 | Green Bay closed the match in a 3-0 sweep after taking set three. The Phoenix took the first point and never looked back to earn a 25-13 victory. The Phoenix offense totaled 17 kills with a .680 attack percentage without registering an attack error in the set.
GAME NOTES
» Kayla Birmingham had a team-high two aces in the win.
» Green Bay outscored Tennessee State 75-45 across the three sets.
» Gillian Koning had a match-high 11 kills for Green Bay.
» Green Bay attackers were helped by a match-high 35 assists from Alexa Hernandez.
GAME 2 | Tennessee Tech 3, Green Bay 2
After falling in the first two sets, the Phoenix battled back to force a fifth, where they dropped a tight set, 15-13.
The Phoenix were led by a double-double from Birmingham, who registered 15 kills and 16 digs in the match. Pichelman also added 14 kills to help the attack. On the defensive end, Kline chipped in with a career-high 23 digs to go with five blocks from Pichelman.
HOW IT HAPPENED
SET 1 | The Phoenix fell behind early, dropping a nail-biter first set 25-23. Tennessee Tech grabbed the advantage for good at 18-17 in a set that was knotted up 13 times before the Golden Eagles took over late in the set.
SET 2 | Green Bay then dropped set two, 26-24, to fall behind in the match two sets to none. The Phoenix fell short in a back-and-forth set, losing in a set that featured seven lead changes and was tied 12 times. Neither team led by more than four points along the way.
SET 3 | Green Bay fought back to pull within two sets to one, winning their first set of the match in convincing fashion. Green Bay led by as many as nine points at 20-11 before finishing off the set with a 25-19 win.
SET 4 | Green Bay continued the comeback, winning the fourth set 25-17 to bring the match level at two sets apiece. The Phoenix scored first and never trailed in the set, building a 17-5 lead en route to the 25-17 set win. The Phoenix offense piled up a match-high 15 kills in the set.
SET 5 | The Phoenix took set five to the wire, but fell just short, 15-13. The two teams found themselves tied at 13, where the hosts took the final two points and the match.
GAME NOTES
» Green Bay had three players in double figures in digs, led by Kline’s 23.
» Pichelman had a match-high three aces in the loss.
» Green Bay outhit Tennessee Tech, .174 to .155. Both teams finished with 59 kills.
» Green Bay attackers were helped by a career-high 51 assists from Hernandez.
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