STEVENS POINT – The Lakeland University women's volleyball team was unable to defeat a second Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference team this season as UW-Stevens Point heated up late in the first set and cruised to a three-set win Wednesday night in a non-conference match.

The Pointers' April Gehl finished with 21 kills, the hosts hit .269 as a team and also added nine blocks and the Muskies lost for the first time this season, dropping to 4-1 after winning all four matches at their home tournament this past weekend to open the season.

Lakeland swept defending WIAC champion UW-La Crosse in three sets on Friday, but against UWSP hit just .073 with 26 kills and 18 errors in 110 attacks. The Muskies also could not stop Gehl, who hit .500 for the match and also added 16 digs, and her teammate Tara Emme also posted eight kills and just one error for a .467 hitting percentage.

The Muskies had nine attack errors in the first set but still had a chance to win it, down just 20-18 after a service ace by Neenah Primas (So.-Oostburg, Wis.). After taking a timeout, though, the Pointers scored five straight to close out the set, ending on a service ace of their own from Ali Zamzow.

UW-Stevens Point (2-3 overall) then powered through the second set, hitting .483 as a team, and the Pointers jumped out to an 8-1 lead in the third set as well. Lakeland rallied back to within one point on two occasions, the last time at 16-15 after a kill by Shelby Welsh (Sr.-Ogallala, Neb.), but UWSP scored the next three points and went on to close the match out.

Shannon Bishop (Jr.-River Grove, Ill.) posted eight kills and Welsh added seven kills, but no other Muskie had more than three kills. Primas finished with 15 assists, while Emma Bruder (Sr.-Frankfort, Ill.) led the back row with 12 digs.

Lakeland next will play another WIAC team when it travels to face UW-Oshkosh on Friday at 7:30 p.m.