STEVENS POINT – The Lakeland University women's volleyball team continued its early-season tournament trend of splitting matches, going 1-1 at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point Pointer Invitational Friday evening.

The Muskies breezed past Ripon College 25-14, 25-19, 25-17 in their first match of the night but followed with another competitive loss in defeat to a nationally ranked team, falling to Carthage College 25-22, 25-22, 25-20. Lakeland's finish of even on the day matched its mark on both days of the UW-Whitewater Invitational last weekend.

The Muskies (3-4 overall) were dominant in the three-set sweep of the Redhawks, putting up a very strong .386 attack percentage with 39 kills and just seven errors in 83 swings. Shannon Bishop (Sr.-River Grove, Ill.) finished with 10 kills in an efficient 17 attempts and Abby Baumgartner (Jr.-Kewaunee, Wis.) Natalie Borman (Jr.-Harvard, Ill.) and Megan Goeser (Jr.-Plymouth, Wis.) all added six kills each without a single error, including Borman posting a career-high for kills in just seven swings (.857 hitting percentage).

Neenah Primas (Jr.-Oostburg, Wis.) tallied 25 assists and Sydney Pingitore (So.-Kenosha, Wis.) finished with a team-high nine digs.

Lakeland then made another bid at taking down a highly regarded team, squaring off with a Carthage team ranked 19th in the most recent AVCA/NCAA Division III Coaches Top 25 Poll. Much as it did Wednesday night against a UW-Stevens Point squad sitting just outside the rankings, the Muskies played well but their opponent was a tad better in a well-played contest by both teams.

Lakeland hit a more-than respectable .261 for the match with 40 kills and just 11 errors in 111 attacks. Carthage (6-0 overall) was even better, at .291 with 42 kills and 10 errors in 110 swings.

Bishop finished with 11 kills, Baumgartner and Goeser added nine each and Riley Birr (Fr.-Pulaski, Wis.) also finished with seven kills. Primas piled up 35 assists, Pingitore finished with 13 digs and Allison Byrne (Sr.-Luxemburg, Wis.) added 10 digs.

Lakeland will get the rest of the weekend off and is now idle until traveling for the UW-Eau Claire Sandy Schumacher Memorial Tournament next Friday. The Muskies will open against Martin Luther (Minn.) College at 3 p.m. in Eau Claire.