Concordia University Wisconsin fought off three match points in the fifth set and in the end was the last tea standing as the Lakeland University women's volleyball team lost a tough five-set match in its Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference opener Wednesday night at the Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium.

The Muskies and Falcons slugged it out for five sets, but in the end Concordia came out with a 24-26, 25-16, 26-24, 23-25, 18-16 win. The two-time defending NACC regular season and tournament champions extended their conference winning streak to 25 matches, while Lakeland lost its third straight five-set match while going five sets for the fifth time this season.

In a fifth set that included 13 ties and seven lead changes, the Muskies (5-4 overall, 0-1 NACC) reached match point at 14-12 after kills by Eliana Arbetman (Sr.-Oak Park, Ill.) and Erin Iwanski (Jr.-St. Francis, Wis.). The Falcons (4-2 overall, 1-0 NACC) came back to earn a match point of their own after three straight points, but Lakeland was back on match point again at 16-15 after a kill by Shelby Welsh (Sr.-Ogallala, Neb.) and a CUW attack error.

Concordia came back again, though, with Holly Anderson's tip kill tying the set at 16-16. The Falcons then kept the next point alive with an outstanding save behind their own service line, and Welsh's attack eventually went long and gave the Falcons their second match point. The final point included outstanding defense by Lakeland, with Shannon Bishop (Jr.-River Grove, Ill.), Emma Bruder (Sr.-Frankfort, Ill.) and Brianna Johnson (Sr.-Altoona, Wis.) all keeping the point alive with terrific digs, but a back row attack by Bishop was blocked by Concordia into the middle of the court, deflecting off the Muskies and eventually out of reach.

Both teams showed resilience time and again in a match where four of the five sets went down to the end and were decided by two points and long rallies were a regular occurrence. The Muskies (5-4 overall, 0-1 NACC) in particular rallied from substantial deficits in the first, third and fourth sets, coming back to win the first and fourth and very nearly claim the third.

Lakeland trailed 5-1 at the open of the first set and later 21-18 late in the set but came back both times, the final time after Concordia had a set point at 24-23. Neenah Primas (So.-Oostburg, Wis.) and Abby Baumgartner (So.-Kewaunee, Wis.) both posted kills, and Baumgartner and Iwanski teamed up for a block as the Muskies rallied back to take the opener.

The Muskies also trailed by seven late in the third set and still by six at 23-17, only to rally all the way back to a 24-24 tie. The Falcons eventually came through to win that set, but Lakeland bounced back again in the fourth set, turning around deficits of 11-6 and later 17-14, with Bishop recording kills on the final three points of the set to extend to a fifth set.

Bishop finished with 18 kills and 14 digs, while Welsh also added 12 kills and 16 digs. Davan Fleming (Jr.-Cremona, Alberta, Canada) came off the bench to record 25 assists and seven digs over the final three sets, and Bruder and Johnson finished with 21 and 20 digs, respectively. Iwanski also posted seven blocks (one solo, six assisted), as the Muskies finished with 11 blocks as a team.

Megan Mayer led Concordia with 17 kills, one of four in double figures in kills for the Falcons. Ariana Richmond posted a match-high 27 digs, Mackenzie Wockenfus finished with 30 assists and 13 digs, and Haley Sedo added 24 assists plus six service aces.

The Muskies next will compete in the Sandy Schumacher Volleyball Tournament hosted by the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire this weekend. Lakeland opens play on Friday when it faces North Central (Ill.) College at 5 p.m. in Eau Claire.