Lakeland University is into the semifinals of the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference Women's Volleyball Tournament and earned a chance to take down the tourney's top seed after it defeated Concordia University Chicago in three sets Tuesday night at the Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium.

The Muskies eliminated the fifth-seeded Cougars 25-17, 25-20, 25-20, advancing to the NACC semis for the first time since 2015 and just the second time since last winning the event in 2009. Fourth-seeded Lakeland advanced to a matchup at top seed and NACC regular season champion Aurora University, to be played Thursday night at 7 p.m.

The Muskies (22-10) also clinched the most wins in a season for the program since the 2009 squad went 23-13 and advanced to the NCAA Division III Tournament. The team did so by defeating Concordia Chicago for the second time this season, taking care of the Cougars in quicker fashion than the teams' first meeting 10 days earlier.

Concordia took a set against Lakeland before falling in four sets on Oct. 20, but the Muskies were in charge almost from the outset. Lakeland never trailed in the first set and took control of both the second and third sets with deciding runs after trailing early.

The Muskies hit a strong .294 in the first set but were trailing 5-4 early in the second before running off six straight points. Emma Bruder (Sr.-Frankfort, Ill.) served a pair of aces, Abby Baumgartner (So.-Kewaunee, Wis.) and Emilie Schartner (Sr.-Sturgeon Bay, Wis.) added kills and Lakeland never trailed again in the set, even as CUC closed to within two points on several occasions.

Concordia held a slim lead for most of the early stages of the third set and was still ahead 12-11 and Lakeland went on another six-point run. Shannon Bishop (Jr.-River Grove, Ill.) started it with a pair of kills and the Muskies pulled to a 17-12 lead, again never leading by less than two for the rest of the set.

Megan Goeser (So.-Plymouth, Wis.) led the Muskies' attack with 10 kills and just one error in 19 swings for a .474 hitting percentage. Five of her kills came in the third set, including the team's final three, and she also added three big block assists.

Bishop also finished with eight kills plus three block assists and both Baumgartner and Shelby Welsh (Sr.-Ogallala, Neb.) added seven kills each and Schartner six more kills. Lakeland finished the match hitting .204 as a team with 39 kills and 16 attack errors.

Neenah Primas (So.-Oostburg, Wis.) finished with 33 assists and Bruder led the back row defense with 13 digs plus three service aces. Bishop also served three aces as the Muskies finished with eight aces as a team.

Shannon Stamp, Julia Spitelli and Jaylynn Johnson all had eight kills each for Concordia, which hit .126 as a team with 30 kills and 17 errors. Elise Sombke also added a match-high 16 digs.

2018 NACC Tournament Bracket