Lakeland University escaped from a big hole in the deciding set and finally vanquished stubborn Benedictine University in five sets Saturday afternoon in a Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference women's volleyball match at the Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium.

Shannon Bishop (So.-River Grove, Ill.) delivered three kills in the fifth set, including the final one to end the match as the Muskies finished off a 25-21, 20-25, 25-12, 22-25, 15-13 victory for their second conference win of the season. Lakeland weathered numerous challenges from the Eagles but improved to 7-14 overall and 2-2 in the NACC.

The Muskies had to rally from a 6-0 deficit at the start of the fifth set that put them in peril in a match where they dominated in winning the first and third sets, only to see Benedictine (2-16 overall, 1-3 NACC) rally back. Lakeland fought back quickly behind contributions on the attack from a number of players plus several Eagle errors, and a pair of four-point runs led to the Muskies taking an 8-7 lead by the changeover.

Benedictine came back to tie it on three occasions, but Shelby Block (Fr.-Sheboygan, Wis.) contributed a kill and Lakeland scored three straight points for a 13-10 lead, then soon had match point at 14-12 after a service error. The Eagles fought off one match point but Bishop finished off a long rally to close it out.

The Muskies alternated moments of excellence with struggles, hitting better than .200 in each of the first three sets but also battling errors in the second and fourth sets, including five service errors in the second and 11 hitting errors in the fourth. Lakeland finished hitting .151 for the match with 57 kills to 29 errors, ahead of the Eagles' .100 hitting percentage with 50 kills and 31 errors.

Brittini Scoles (Sr.-Kewaskum, Wis.) led the attack with 14 kills while Bishop added 11. Freshmen Megan Goeser (Plymouth, Wis.) and Abby Baumgartner (Fr.-Kewaunee, Wis.) also added eight kills each.

Neenah Primas (Fr.-Oostburg, Wis.) led the setters with 27 assists and also added 12 digs, one of five players with at least 12 digs. Fellow setter Taylor Bubolz (Fr.-Howards Grove, Wis.) also posted a double-double with 19 assists and 12 digs.

 Allison Errthum (Sr.-Joliet, Ill.) led the back-row defense with a season-high 24 digs, with Shelby Welsh (Jr.-Ogallala, Neb.) also adding 14 digs and Emma Bruder (Jr.-Frankfort, Ill.) also adding 13 digs plus three service aces. Lakeland also was strong blocking again with 10 team blocks, led by Baumgartner (two solo, three assisted) and Goeser (one solo, four assisted) notching five blocks each.

Lauren Wieber had 11 kills and Kristina Billie finished with a match-high 30 digs to lead Benedictine, which had three players with at least 10 kills and also four players with double figures in digs.

The Muskies are on the road next weekend when they travel to River Forest, Ill., to face both Dominican University and Concordia University Chicago, first taking on Dominican next Friday at 7 p.m.