Allison Errthum (
Sr.-Joliet, Ill.) set a career high with 33 digs on her Senior Night, but the Lakeland University women's volleyball team couldn't sustain a good start and saw Wisconsin Lutheran College come from behind for a four-set win Friday night at the Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium.
The Warriors came back to defeat the Muskies 19-25, 30-28, 25-19, 25-23 in an important battle for positioning in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference standings. WLC defeated Lakeland for the first time since 2012 and improved to 4-3 in conference play (9-15 overall), while the hosts dropped to 3-4 in the NACC and are now 8-16 overall.
The Muskies won the first set and looked good doing it, pulling ahead after an early fight on the strength of five service aces early, including two each by Errthum and
Abby Baumgartner (
Fr.-Kewaunee, Wis.). Lakeland hit .263 in the first set with 13 kills and just three errors in what would be its highwater for the night.
The Muskies still seemed to be in control in the second set, taking an early 4-0 lead with
Megan Goeser (
Fr.-Plymouth, Wis.) contributing a kill and a block, and Lakeland led by as many as five points early and still by four when Baumgartner and
Shelby Block (
Fr.-Sheboygan, Wis.) combined for a block to make it 20-16. Wisconsin Lutheran would not go away, though, and rallied to tie at 22-22, then fought off three Muskies set points to finally pull out the set 30-28.
Lakeland would play from behind most of the rest of the match, trailing for all but a few brief moments in the third and fourth sets. WLC never trailed in the third and used a 9-1 run midway through to assume control, and the guests trailed only briefly at 1-0 before gaining the upper hand in the fourth. The Muskies made late rallies in both sets and fought off four match points in the fourth to close within 24-23, but Grace Tomhave delivered the final of her match-high 15 kills to close it out.
Errthum bested her previous career high of 32 digs, while fellow senior
Brittini Scoles (
Kewaskum, Wis.) also paced the team with 11 kills.
Neenah Primas (
Fr.-Oostburg, Wis.) finshed with 26 assists and added 15 digs, and
Emma Bruder (
Jr.-Frankfort, Ill.) chipped in 14 digs. Block also led the Muskies at the net with six blocks.
The Muskies finished hitting .100 for the match with 45 kills and 27 errors. Lakeland also was hurt by 13 service errors.
Britley Grulke added nine kills and a team-high 19 digs to lead Wisconsin Lutheran, while Alyssa Charron also added nine kills. Courtney Pattison also added 36 assists and 16 digs, one of five players with at least 12 digs.
Lakeland is home again Saturday for the team's final home match of the regular season when it welcomes Alverno College for a noon first serve at the Woltzen Gymnasium.
