Box Score 1 | Box Score 3 Abby Baumgartner (So.-Kewaunee, Wis.) sent home a career-high 13 kills and the Lakeland University women's volleyball team clinched at least a top-five finish in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference with a four-set win over Concordia University Chicago Saturday afternoon at the Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium.

The Muskies opened their second home triangular in two weekends with an important conference victory, fighting off the Cougars 25-20, 21-25, 25-13, 25-22. Lakeland finished the day with a 1-1 mark after a 25-9, 25-18, 25-22 non-conference loss to UW-Stout to wrap up the tripleheader, one that also saw Stout defeat Concordia in three sets.

Lakeland (19-9 overall, 8-3 NACC) continued to position itself for a home match in the upcoming NACC Tournament, turning away an upstart Concordia team that had eyes on passing the Muskies in the standings. Lakeland ensured that it will finish ahead of the Cougars in the regular season, and can clinch a first round home match with a win Wednesday at Milwaukee School of Engineering or one more loss in the regular season by current fifth-place Wisconsin Lutheran College.

The Muskies received a challenge from Concordia (12-14 overall, 7-5 NACC), which a night earlier had clinched its first NACC Tournament berth since 2011. The Cougars led start-to-finish in winning the second set and were down just one point at 23-22 late in the fourth set before the Muskies closed it out with kills by Megan Goeser (So.-Plymouth, Wis.) and Neenah Primas (So.-Oostburg, Wis.).

Baumgartner helped get the attack going, rotating in off the bench and finishing with a career high will hitting .393 in 28 attacks, leading Lakeland to a .230 hitting percentage with 47 kills and 18 errors.

Shelby Welsh (Sr.-Ogallala, Neb.) and Shannon Bishop (Jr.-River Grove, Ill.) both added double-doubles, with Welsh totaling 11 kills and 11 digs and Bishop adding 10 kills plus 12 digs.

Emma Bruder (Sr.-Frankfort, Ill.) also added 17 digs, Primas finished with 29 assists and Emilie Schartner (Sr.-Sturgeon Bay, Wis.) totaled six block assists. The Muskies also withstood nine service aces by Concordia, which hit .147 with 43 kills and 24 errors and was led by Julia Spitelli with 14 kills.

Lakeland never got on track in the second match against UW-Stout (15-11 overall), leading only once in the match at 1-0 at the start of the second set. The Muskies played well into the third set before getting their hitting percentage in the positive and finished with 22 kills and 17 errors (.044 attack percentage).

The match did include a rally in the final set, which started with the Blue Devils scoring the first nine points and saw Lakeland still down 21-11 before fighting back within 23-22 until Stout closed out the match with a pair of kills.

Davan Fleming (Jr.-Cremona, Alberta, Canada) finished with 13 assists and added nine digs, Bruder added 14 digs and Welsh chipped in 11. Steph Cannon led UW-Stout with 27 digs and Lexie Nelson added 13 digs plus eight kills.

UW-Stout also won the second match of the day in a sweep, defeating Concordia Chicago 25-15, 25-17, 25-18. Kennedy Strain finished with 10 kills and Cannon added 16 digs as the Blue Devils pulled away late in the first set and were in control much of the rest of the way.